By Mohammad al-Masri
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – A Palestinian man being treated at a Gaza hospital for severe bruising on his face, cuts on his fingers and other injuries said Israeli soldiers beat him with chunks of masonry and chairs after bursting into his home on Feb. 20.
The account by Ramadan Shamlakh, 22, which Reuters could not verify from another source, was the latest in a series of allegations of mistreatment of Palestinians by Israeli forces since the start of their war against Hamas.
The Israeli army says it treats detainees in accordance with international law.
Filmed for Reuters by a freelance video journalist at Shuhada Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Shamlakh had a bloodstained bandage wrapped around his head and another around his left arm.
His face was swollen and bloodied, and he could not open his right eye. He walked with a limp. He had a series of cuts on the back of the fingers of his right hand, which he said were made with a knife.
“He would lie me down on the ground and tell me not to move. He would get rocks, the broken ones from our balcony, and throw them at my legs,” Shamlakh said, describing his treatment by one of the soldiers.
“Whenever I would move, I would find his boot, kicking me here, kicking me there. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t speak,” he said, adding that the soldier had also smashed up two chairs over him.
Reuters provided Shamlakh’s name, the name of the area where he lived and the date of the alleged beating to an Israeli army spokesperson, who said the army was unaware of the incident. The spokesperson asked for coordinates, which Reuters did not have.
‘WHERE IS HAMAS?’
The army has said it was detaining and questioning people suspected of involvement in what it calls terrorist activity, without disclosing numbers, as part of its operations in Gaza. Those found not to be involved in terrorism or fighting were released, it said.
Shamlakh said troops were operating with tanks in the area where he lives, Zeitoun in Gaza City, overnight on Monday. At about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday they destroyed a wall, entered the house and interrogated him over the next few hours, he said.
“They’d ask me ‘where is Hamas?’ I’d say ‘I don’t know’. ‘Where are the tunnels? Where are the stores of weapons?’ I told them ‘I’m a civilian, I’m a civilian’,” said Shamlakh.
Dr Anas Al-Kurd said Shamlakh had injuries all over his body and the Shuhada Al-Aqsa hospital did not have all the supplies it needed to treat him appropriately.
“He was supposed to be transferred to the European Hospital so that he could be seen by an eye specialist, but the occupying forces were located on the Al Rashid route and had cut it off,” he said. “So this young man remains with us, suffering in pain and all he can take are painkillers.”
Reuters and other media have reported other incidents in which people detained by Israeli forces in Gaza have alleged that they were beaten and subjected to degrading treatment.
Reuters reports have included a woman who said she was imprisoned for weeks, insulted and mistreated; a doctor who said he was shackled, blindfolded and deprived of sleep during a 45-day detention; and three brothers who said they and fellow detainees were beaten, stripped to their underwear and burnt with cigarettes.
The Israeli military did not comment on the detail of any of those allegations, but said that its protocols were to treat detainees with dignity and that incidents in which the guidelines were not followed would be looked into. It has previously denied targeting or abusing civilians.
The war was triggered by Hamas militants from Gaza who attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 people hostage, according to Israel.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has responded with an air and ground assault on densely populated Gaza which has killed more than 29,400 people, according to local health authorities which do not distinguish between combatant and non-combatant casualties.
Israel’s offensive has displaced most of the strip’s 2.3 million people, caused widespread hunger and disease, and laid waste to much of the territory.
(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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