The brutality of the Israeli occupation regime has been exposed deliberately by the release of images of Palestinian detainees who have been tortured. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club on Wednesday, the Israeli prison authorities broadcast videos and photos of the abuse and torture carried out against Palestinians prisoners in order to terrorise their families and undermine their image as heroic fighters.
Following the release of new photographs showing Israeli prison guards assaulting and torturing Palestinian prisoners, the organisation pointed out that, “The goal is to compete over who inflicts more brutality to gain more support within Israeli society, and to satisfy its desire for revenge, without the slightest consideration for what these photos and videos signify in terms of the serious violation of human laws and norms, and human dignity.”
The PPC accused Israel of using this systematic policy before the ongoing genocide, and even more so since extreme far-right Itamar Ben Gvir was appointed as minister of national security.
It pointed to the escalation of revealing the crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners which peaked after the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza when Israeli soldiers deliberately filmed detainees in “humiliating and degrading” conditions. Some of the videos were leaked by the Israeli media, including the video clip of a Palestinian detainee being raped in the Sde Teiman detention camp.
The Prisoners’ Club had previously warned against circulating such photos and video clips due to their sensitivity and implications for Palestinians’ morals.
Dozens of prisoners and freed prisoners have testified to prisoners’ rights groups and international human rights organisations about the level of “horrific crimes and torture” inflicted upon them inside Israeli prisons.