Israel releases 16 Palestinians detained in Gaza

Gaza Strip in the course of its ground operation that has been taking place since 27 October last year. A boy and an elderly woman were among those released, Anadolu has reported.

The Palestinians were released through the Israeli army’s Kissufim military post in the east of Deir Al-Balah city, in the central Gaza Strip. The agency’s correspondent noted that 13 of those released were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah due to their poor health condition. “When being checked by doctors, there were signs of torture on their bodies,” added the correspondent.

In the past few months, the Israeli army has released dozens of Palestinians from Gaza in batches. Most were suffering from poor health and had similar signs of torture on their bodies. Indeed, it has been confirmed by recently released detainees that they were subjected to torture, humiliation and harsh interrogation during their detention.

Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested by the Israeli army across the Gaza Strip, but the occupation authorities refuse to reveal the exact number.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued military offensive on Gaza since the cross-border incursion by Hamas on 7 October. Israel has killed more than 38,700 Palestinians in its brutal offensive, mostly women and children, and wounded almost 90,000. An estimated 10,000 others are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by the occupation army.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, fresh water, fuel and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

READ: France expresses ‘outrage’ about Israel strikes on Gazan civilians