Released Palestinians reveal horrors in Israeli prisons

A Palestinian youth is welcomed by friends and family after being released from an Israeli jail, as part of an exchange deal between Hamas and Israel. – Photo: DPA via ZUMA Press / APA images. by Tamara Nassa This was originally published by THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA. As Palestinian teens and women were liberated in a groundbreaking prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel, chilling accounts emerged of dire conditions in Israeli prisons. Detainees gave testimonies on how Israeli prison authorities subjected them to food deprivation, medical negligence, regular beatings and menacing threats aimed at them and their families. Despite many of the prisoners being released from different prisons across historic Palestine with no way of communicating with one another prior to their release, their accounts have been consistent. For seven consecutive days starting Nov. 24, prisoners were exchanged between Hamas and Israel as part of a temporary truce which was extended twice but collapsed on 1 December as Israel resumed massacring Palestinians in Gaza. A total of 240 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel as part of this deal – including 107 children, 65 teens 18 and older and 68 women. The vast majority of Palestinians released had never been...