Israel police prevent Palestinian workers from appearing in court to hide abuse

The Israeli police have refused to bring Palestinian workers who have been arrested while working without permission in Israel to court to hide police brutality against them, Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday.

Haaretz said that a large police force attacked a group of Palestinian workers in the Modiin settlement near the occupied city of Jerusalem, causing fractures and severe physical harm.

According to the paper, the police attacked the workers in a construction site after receiving a false tip claiming that they planned to carry out an attack in the settlement, noting that two workers suffered various fractures on the body and face and a dislocated shoulder.

The judge at the Magistrate’s Court in Petah Tikva demanded the Israeli police clarify how they dealt with the detainees, and to explain why they decided not to bring three of them to the court.

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The police claimed three workers entered quarantine due to suspicion of being infected with coronavirus, however they did not present health reports supporting their allegations.

Despite the police claim, the court accepted the police request to extend the detention period to provide evidence that the workers had been working without permission.

One of the detained Palestinian workers told the court that the Israeli special forces arrived at the construction site and assaulted him and his colleagues breaking his arm and nose, although none of them resisted detention or attempted to escape.