Q & A
Q & A
Q: How does Hamas treat Israeli hostages in Gaza?
A: Testimony from Israeli hostages reveals that, despite the harsh conditions in Gaza, their wellbeing and safety was a clear priority for their captors. This aligns with Operation: Al-Aqsa Flood's strategic goal of prisoner exchange, indicating it was not a mass murder mission but a hostage abduction campaign. Some hostages testify that, during their abductions on October 7th, they were beat by their captors and shot at by Israeli gunfire, tanks, and helicopters. No hostages testify to being raped or tortured. On the contrary, hostage testimony reveals women were treated with respect by their captors and that children were given crafts and games to pass the time. During their captivity in Gaza, hostages repeatedly asserted that the largest danger to their lives was Israeli bombardment. Hostages also reported being underfed, eating the same small rations as their captors, and being treated by doctors with limited medical supplies due to the Israeli blockade of food and medicine into Gaza.
Q: How does Israel treat Palestinian hostages from Gaza?
A: Reports from Israeli reservists and quotes from Israeli
politicians indicate a systemic assumption that Palestinians in captivity
are "terrorists" and that, due to the actions Israel alleges Hamas committed
on October 7th, no rules or laws protecting Palestinian captives apply.
There is a strong, repeated sentiment that, against Palestinian hostages,
any and all forms of torture and mistreatment are legitimate and
permissible.
The most egregious examples of mistreatment of Palestinian hostages take
place at a concentration camp called
Sde Teiman. Multiple guards report that a constant, foul odor pervades the camp.
Palestinians, including children, are kept blindfolded with their arms and
legs handcuffed, 24 hours a day. A doctor at Sde Teiman reports that the
merciless handcuff use leads to severe injuries, requiring frequent limb
amputation among the hostage population. The Palestinian hostages are kept
hungry, forced to spend all their time on a thin yoga mat in a hangar, not
free to stand, move, or speak under threat of beating and torture. At night,
they are prohibited from sitting up. During the day, they are prohibited
from lying down. An Israeli doctor reports that some Palestinian hostages
have gunshot wounds and are sent into the torturous conditions of the
concentration camp only an hour or two after major surgery, instead of being
given a day or two of intensive care as normal medical procedure perscribes.
Prison guards are briefed not to pity the Palestinian hostages and are told
in these briefings that the hostages are not human beings. Prison guards
testify that people are beaten regularly and for no reason. Guards report a
culture and practice of total dehumanization and abuse. Many Palestinian
hostages die in custody due to the violence, abuse, and neglect.
There are many specific instances of horrific violence and torture at Sde
Teiman. Guards report that blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinians are
pushed off transport trucks from the full height of the vehicle's transport
bed, hitting the floor "like a stone", unable to anticipate the fall or
catch themselves. In one incident, a Palestinian's head was bashed against
an iron component on a door. In another, a prisoner is beaten with a club,
and when he accidentally shifts his blindfold off his face when raising his
hands to protect himself, he is beaten even harder. One quote reports an
instance of Israeli reservists barbecuing, aware that the smell of the food
was tantalizing and tormenting the hungry detainees, a form of psychological
torture. Guards bragged to each other about how they would beat the
detainees or spit in their food. In one particularly barbaric story, a group
of Israeli soldiers raped a Palestinian to the point of hospitalization,
taking turns and attempting to obscure their actions from security cameras
with riot shields.
Torture and abuse of Palestinian hostages is not confined to Sde Teiman and
is not a new phenomenon since October 7. Josh Paul, the U.S. Department of
State official who resigned on October 17, 2023 in protest of the U.S.
policy of arming Israel, recounts the rape of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy
in
Mascobiyya
prison in Jerusalem.
In response to these crimes, Israeli politicians do everything they can to
protect and defend the perpetrators. In the case of the 13-year-old boy at
Mascobiyya, the IDF raided the offices of
Defense for Children International - Palestine, the charity that reported the crime to the U.S Department of State. The
IDF declared the charity a terrorist entity. In the case of a violent rape
at Sde Teiman, Israeli politicians and news media report express anger that
an investigation is being conducted, defending the violence and encouraging
it, protecting the perpetrator. Israeli ministers proclaim to be actively
working to worsen conditions at Israeli prisons, taking pleasure in the
sadism, torture, and dehumanization they witness when they visit.