Israeli officers have been displeased when Mohammed Nazal, an 18-year-old Palestinian, described his ordeal in Israeli prisons after being launched as a part of a truce settlement with Hamas final week.
The teenager from the city of Qabatiya within the occupied West Bank advised Arab and Western media how he was overwhelmed and denied medical help, however this was refuted by Israeli authorities who tried to color him as a liar.
His testimonies and medical information have now been verified by a fact-checking company, offering additional proof of the brutal mistreatment Palestinians endure in Israeli prisons that has solely exacerbated for the reason that Israel-Hamas struggle started on October 7.
What is Nazal saying?
Arrested in August and held with out cost, Nazal was amongst greater than 100 Palestinians saved in Israeli prisons – many arbitrarily – and launched as a part of a weeklong truce that ended on Friday.
After his launch, he was interviewed by numerous information retailers, together with Al Jazeera, to debate his time in Israeli jail. He mentioned jail guards grew considerably extra violent after the struggle began.
“He kept beating me for eight minutes with a stick and without caring where it lands,” he advised Al Jazeera of how an Israeli guard tortured him.
“I was covering my head. The stick was aimed here, at my head, but my hands would receive the blow.”
Images of Nazal with each fingers held up by bandages – and his account of the ordeal – went viral. He mentioned each fingers suffered fractures and a number of other fingers on each fingers have been damaged. He may have surgical procedures on his highway to restoration.
Nazal mentioned he was “in pain on the floor for a week” in jail after the beatings, however was provided no medical help earlier than his launch was secured in a hostage alternate.
What is Israel saying?
Nazal was solely capable of discuss his experiences after he was united along with his household by the Red Cross.
But after his account acquired out, Israeli officers sprang to motion.
Ofir Gendelman, a media official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace, launched a video that confirmed Nazal didn’t have his fingers bandaged when boarding a Red Cross bus.
That, he mentioned, meant that his fingers “were fine”. And he claimed this reveals how Palestinians lie about what occurs in Israeli prisons.
This is whereas Israel’s propaganda techniques and unfounded claims have been repeatedly laid naked publicly greater than ever through the struggle.
PS. Mohammed Nazal is eighteen years outdated in accordance with Israeli information.
His date of delivery was incorrectly entered on the hospital’s emergency division as January 1, 2004 (seemingly a default), however the ID quantity is similar as his ID in Israeli information. pic.twitter.com/n7qsZWT94W
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) November 29, 2023
Is there any proof?
So, is there any proof of the “war zone” Nazal skilled in Israeli prisons, the place Palestinians are mentioned to be residing in inhumane situations?
The younger man isn’t the primary Palestinian to return ahead with such accounts. Many of the Palestinians who have been launched this week offered the media with related accounts of torture, beatings and humiliation.
Practices in Israeli prisons have been completely documented over a very long time, as they’ve been ongoing for many years, ever since its occupation of Palestinian territories started in 1967, and even earlier than, through the British management of the territory.
But Nazal has proof as nicely. Arab fact-checking platform Misbar analysed medical information issued by Nazal’s docs on the day of his launch. The information point out that he had fractures on the metacarpal bones – the flat bones behind the hand.
Misbar additionally printed X-rays of {the teenager}’s fingers, taken on the day of his launch on November 28. They additionally confirmed a number of fractures, corresponding with outcomes discovered by a medical centre in Ramallah. Photos of Nazal after launch additionally confirmed how he displayed appreciable indicators of bruising on his again.
The teenager’s medical information have been additionally examined and verified by media retailers, together with the BBC.
#Misbar investigated the claims made by Israeli accounts concerning the video footage displaying #Mohammed_Nazzal leaving the jail and boarding the Red Cross bus after his launch.
More particulars: https://t.co/uubnouGdnh pic.twitter.com/M2KBc2ayUa
— Misbar (@misbar_en) November 29, 2023
What else is occurring in Israeli prisons?
Like hundreds of different Palestinians, Nazal was held beneath “administrative detention”.
It’s a observe, supported by Israeli regulation, that enables Palestinians to be jailed for six months with out cost or trial. That time span may be repeatedly prolonged for an indefinite interval.
In addition to the bodily abuse, rights teams have reported that the Israel Prison Service has taken different measures in opposition to Palestinian prisoners for the reason that begin of the struggle.
It has reportedly restricted entry to water, meals, medical care and communal objects for prisoners, and has restricted or fully stopped household and lawyer visits.
It has additionally allowed prisoners to be placed on mattresses on jail flooring to allow already overcrowded prisons to soak up extra inmates.
Child inmates have additionally been documented to expertise the identical dire situations as adults, and lots of of them undergo Israeli army courts.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/3/how-a-palestinian-teens-release-exposed-israeli-mistreatment-of-prisoners?traffic_source=rss
