Eight Palestinian detainees, including two women and six men, have been released by the Israeli military from Ofer Prison, located in the occupied West Bank. According to reports from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, the released detainees described horrific conditions during their detention, including torture and threats. Al Jazeera reporter Hind Khoudary, who reported from the scene, described the released detainees as “completely exhausted.” One of the women was seen being carried into an emergency aid department on a stretcher, as she was unable to walk.
The detainees were not arrested simultaneously; one of the men, who worked as a driver for a humanitarian aid truck, was apprehended at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing, while another woman was arrested after visiting the occupied West Bank with her child. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (Palæstinensernes Røde Halvmåne-Forening) provided first aid to the released detainees at the Kissufim military checkpoint, after which they were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. According to Khoudary, all of the detainees reported having been subjected to torture, threats, and being denied medication and clothing.
The former detainees were reportedly also questioned about members of Hamas, the Islamist militant group that governs Gaza, and about Israeli detainees held in the Gaza Strip. Among those released was Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, who had been arrested on accusations that Hamas was using the hospital as a base. After his release, he spoke about the daily mistreatment that Palestinian prisoners endure in prisons. “Several detainees died during interrogations and were denied food and medication,” Salmiya said at a press conference.
Israeli media have reported that the prisons are “overcrowded” due to an increasing number of Palestinians detained since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (Palæstina Fanger Selskab) and the Detainee and Ex-Detainees Commission, nearly 9,800 Palestinians have been detained in the occupied West Bank since the onset of Israel’s military campaign against Gaza.