Many families in Gaza are asking about those Israel disappeared

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The number of prisoners in Israeli prisons until the beginning of last December exceeded 10,300, while the “crime of enforced disappearance” continues to be imposed on hundreds of Gaza detainees in the army’s camps, according to the organisations. [Getty]

While Hamas and Israel are inching closer to a ceasefire agreement ending the war on Gaza, the families of thousands of Palestinian prisoners arrested by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip are experiencing a state of tension, anxiety and anticipation.

Speaking to The New Arab, several Palestinian families described their fears over the “unknown fate of their sons” in light of the lack of public discussion of their case in the ongoing negotiations between Hamas and Israel.

Since the Israeli army began its war on Gaza 15 months ago, it has arrested thousands of Palestinians, with hundreds more or less disappeared, their fates unknown as Israel refuses to provide sufficient information. 

One of those cases is the family of Ibrahim Hana from the Zeitoun neighbourhood in southern Gaza City. They are in a state of fear and anxiety over his fate, which remains unknown despite a year since his arrest.

The Israeli army arrested Ibrahim Hana, the 45-year-old father of five, at the Netzarim checkpoint while he was fleeing with his family to southern Gaza in January. The Israeli army established the Netzarim checkpoint separating the northern coastal strip from the southern part weeks after the outbreak of war on the coastal strip.

“The Israeli army arrested my husband, his three brothers, and his cousins, even though they were carrying white flags […] They were all civilians and were not involved in political or military activities. They have been working in the trade in Gaza their entire lives,” Sumaya Hana, Ibrahim’s wife, told The New Arab. 

Sumaya resorted to Palestinian human rights organisations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to find out their fates, but still, she has not received any information to date.

“Every time I fail to obtain one piece of information about them, my fear and anxiety increases. We do not even know if they are alive, or they were killed,” she remarked. 

Sumaya expressed her hope that the indirect talks between Hamas and Israel taking place in the Qatari capital, Doha, will lead to a ceasefire agreement so she can find out what happened to them.

Details of systematic torture

The fear and anxiety is shared by hundreds of families, increasing with each Palestinian and Israeli report about the difficulties experienced by prisoners in Israeli prisons, especially those detained from Gaza.

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club revealed on Sunday new testimonies from prisoners from Gaza after visits were made to 23 detainees in the Negev prison and the Naftali camp.

A statement issued by the Commission and the Club said that the visits to the prisoners took place between 6 and 8 January, noting their testimonies included shocking details of “systematic torture they were subjected to, specifically during the first period of their arrest and during the investigation period.”

The prisoners stressed that they were subjected to “crimes of torture, abuse, starvation, medical crimes, and severe beatings.”

“These repeated statements by prisoners who were released from the Israeli army about the torture they are subjected to terrify me. The idea that my son is being subjected to such torture while he is suffering from deteriorating health conditions due to his cancer terrifies me,” Abu Salim from Gaza City told TNA. 

The Israeli army arrested Abu Salim in a ground operation in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood west of Gaza City about a year ago and took him to an unknown location. 

“They beat my son in front of me, even though he swore he was a civilian. The soldiers also assaulted me when I tried to protect my son,” Abu Salim recalled. 

“Since then, we have tried by all possible means to inquire about my son’s whereabouts, but we have not received any response so far,” he added, expressing his fear that the army may have killed his son before he reached any detention centre.

Nevertheless, Abu Salim hopes that the possible deal between Hamas and Israel will include the release of prisoners arrested by the Israeli army from Gaza and that he will at least know the fate of his son.

The number of prisoners in Israeli prisons until the beginning of last December exceeded 10,300, while the “crime of enforced disappearance” continues to be imposed on hundreds of Gaza detainees in the army’s camps, according to the organisations. 

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