New reports from the “hell” of Zionist prisons: From holding 30 people per cell to spread of abscesses, parasites, and gangrene

A new account of the brutality of the Zionist regime has recently filled the media. The Zionist regime has released 55 Palestinian prisoners who were detained during its military aggression against Gaza after several months. The released prisoners described the horrific torture and harsh conditions they endured in the regime’s prisons.

“May God help those detainees being interrogated by Israel’s internal security service. Tortured, battered, and our genitals beaten. Verbally and physically abused; only God knows. For God’s sake, set them free and release them from that hell.” These are the words of Faraj al-Samouni, a freed Palestinian prisoner who was released from the Zionist regime’s prisons on Monday, July 1.

Al-Samuni and other Palestinian prisoners recounted the torture and suffering they endured during interrogations, including physical and verbal abuse. They described the dire conditions in Zionist prisons, such as extreme overcrowding, disease outbreaks, and food shortages.

Al-Samuni, who struggles to recount his experience, mentioned that about 30 people are held in one cell, and Palestinian prisoners suffer from various diseases, including abscesses, parasites, and gangrene.

The newly released Palestinian prisoner also spoke about the appalling food conditions in the prisons, stating that each prisoner’s daily ration consists of only one cup of rice, one piece of tomato, one piece of cucumber, and one loaf of bread.

Mohammad Abu Salmiya, one of the most famous Palestinian doctors and the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, was also among the freed prisoners. He spent seven months in Zionist regime prisons. According to him, Palestinian prisoners are subjected to “daily physical and psychological humiliation,” and many have died during interrogations.

Speaking at a press conference, Abu Salmiya stated: “Many of the medical staff arrested have been denied food, water, and medicine. The Israelis have no red lines. They treat prisoners as if they are objects, not humans. Even Israeli doctors are involved in this beating.”

When will the Zionist regime stop torturing Palestinians?

The torture of Palestinian prisoners is not limited to the past few months following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023 but has been a constant throughout the short lifespan of the Zionist regime. Painful handcuffing, holding in painful, stress-inducing positions, sleep deprivation, threats of sexual assault, forcing prisoners to watch the torture of others, and threats to detain and torture family members are common forms of physical and psychological torture of Palestinians.

The Zionists not only violate international laws regarding the treatment of prisoners but also disregard basic moral and human principles. According to the United Nations Convention Against Torture:

torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

The Zionist regime is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, yet it continues to torture Palestinian prisoners without any shame. The United States and some European governments, including France, the UK, and Germany, which constantly preach about human rights, have taken no stance on this issue, as if Palestinians are not human and have no rights.

It seems that the only way to end the crimes against the Palestinian people and prisoners is through armed resistance until a referendum is held to determine the fate of the Palestinian land, a proposition that Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of Islamic Revolution, has repeatedly demanded:

What do we mean when we talk about “solving the Palestinian issue?” It means the establishment of Palestinian sovereignty in all the Palestinian lands. We have put forward our proposal, which involves a referendum for all Palestinians to vote on. Of course, those who are the occupiers have no right, but the Palestinians themselves, whether they are in the Palestinian land or in countries neighboring Palestine, inside the camps or in other places, wherever they are — there are several million Palestinians — they can all give their opinion. [A referendum] is a suitable, acceptable, civilized logic for the administration of Palestine. Now some people will say, “Well, the Zionist regime will not accept and agree to what you are proposing.” Yes, we know they will not agree to it, but that is not their choice to make. It is not up to them to decide. Sometimes a government or a country might not like something, but it is imposed on them. It doesn’t have a choice. If this issue is pursued, and God willing it will be, if the cores of Resistance seriously pursue what they are seeking with resolve and determination, this will happen. There is no doubt about this.