Israeli soldiers stand next to a truck full of stripped Palestinian detainees (Reuters)
Haaretz newspaper said that Israel's indifference to the fate of the residents of Gaza at best, and its desire to take revenge on them at worst, constitute fertile ground for war crimes, noting that 27 detainees from Gaza died while being held in military facilities since the start of the war, without the army providing information about them. He explained the circumstances of their deaths, saying only that some of them were injured, and others were suffering from complex medical conditions before their arrest.
The newspaper mentioned in its editorial that a report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA) was published last week in the New York Times, which included accounts of released detainees, in which they said that they were subjected to physical violence and were denied access to doctors and lawyers.
The United Nations report comes after Haaretz revealed two months ago that detainees at the Sde Teman base remained handcuffed and blindfolded 24 hours a day. Released detainees reported that they were beaten, and the shocking photos showed - as the newspaper says - that long periods of restriction caused them harm. Physical.
It was revealed that two workers from Gaza died in Israeli prisons shortly after the start of the war, and they were not suspected of any violations. Indeed, one of them was suffering from diabetes, but he did not receive the necessary care.
Gazans detained in Israel are not legally defined as prisoners of war, because the Gaza Strip is not a state, and most of them were arrested under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Detention Law, which allows the detention of anyone suspected of participating in hostilities against Israel for 75 days. Before appearing before the judge.
Many of them are released after a while, and although they are not suspected, they are all detained in horrific conditions, in which Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons suffer from beatings, severe overcrowding, food unfit for human consumption, and so on.
The newspaper believes that the ministers of the war government must explain to the Israeli army and prison administration that Israel is not a terrorist organization, that the Teman Dam and other detention facilities are not Guantanamo Bay, and that the state has a duty to protect the rights of detainees, even if they are not officially prisoners of war.
Haaretz concluded that the Israelis' indifference and desire for revenge should not be a license to shed the blood of detainees, because Israel has no right to harm anyone who no longer poses a threat, and must provide reasonable conditions, protect the lives of detainees and ensure their health, according to the newspaper.
Source: Haaretz