250 Palestinian prisoners, 1,808 detainees released Israel: Red Cross | World News

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that Israel has released a total of 1,968 Palestinians from its prisons as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. This includes 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,808 Palestinians who were detained Israel on various charges following the October 7 Hamas attack.Gaza’s Nasser Hospital said Tuesday it received the first 45 bodies of Palestinians who had been detained the Israeli military since October 2023. The bodies were handed over the International Committee of the Red Cross as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement.
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A total of 450 bodies were to be returned to Gaza from Israel, the hospital said. The hospital said some of the bodies showed signs of torture and had their hands bound. It was not immediately clear when or how they died.

UN report on mreatment of Palestinian prisoners

While Israel has rejected reports of torture, Palestinians who were freed in past exchanges have reported frequent beatings, insufficient food, and deprivation of medical care in Israeli prisons.

A 2024 UN report said that since October 7, 2023, thousands of Palestinians have been held arbitrarily and incommunicado Israel, often shackled, blindfolded, deprived of food, water, sleep and medical care and subjected to torture or degrading treatment.

Israel maintains that it follows international and domestic legal standards for the treatment of prisoners and that any violations prison personnel are investigated.

Far-right Israeli National Security Miner Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is in charge of prisons, has repeatedly boasted of making prison conditions for Palestinians as harsh as possible while meeting the letter of the law.

Released Palestinians suffer mental, physical health issues

Some of the Palestinian prisoners and detainees who were released on Monday are suffering from a range of health problems they developed during years in Israeli detention, doctors and freed prisoners in the occupied West Bank told The Associated Press.

People greet freed Palestinian prisoners arriving on buses in the Gaza Strip after their release from Israeli jails under a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. (Photo: AP)

“I was beaten on the shoulder, causing it to tear. For eight months, I wasn’t given even a pill for the pain,” said Kamal Abu Shanab, 51, who was released after more than 18 years behind bars. A military court in 2007 convicted him of “military training, voluntary manslaughter and membership in an unrecognised organisation,” according to Israel’s l of exchanged prisoners.

The Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah received 14 men released on Monday as part of the exchange and discharged all but two. Doctors examining the men said their conditions suggested they had been beaten.

“It indicates that these patients were subjected to severe beatings, reflecting the extent of the violence they endured,” said Imed al-Shami, a resident doctor at the hospital’s emergency room.

What Israel said

The Israel Prison Service said it was unaware of such claims. “All inmates are held according to legal procedures, and their rights, including access to medical care and adequate living condition,s are upheld,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Israel says it adheres to its prison standards under law and investigates any reports of violations. But such allegations are consent with findings previously documented media organisations and human rights groups.