So as we do not forget the prisoners

In the midst of the fierce aggression launched by the Israeli war machine against all aspects of Palestinian life in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the spotlight sometimes focuses on political news, especially the exchange deal and its developments that are still stagnant. The statements of the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday that the deal has developed and witnessed remarkable progress are nothing but media consumption for political purposes related to Netanyahu and his desire to remain in power for as long as possible, to avoid trial and accountability, at a time when Israel is proving to the whole world that it is not interested in this deal and the ceasefire through the latest developments in the American-Israeli meetings, as Netanyahu's team is pressuring the American administration strongly to transfer the remaining ammunition, bombs and weapons to the army, in order to continue his aggression and exploit the remaining period for Biden and his administration in power, fearing a possible change in American foreign policy by Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

While the exchange deal and its news take up the largest space as if it were the only file in this war, this should not make us forget urgent, important and fateful issues. In addition to the repercussions of the massacres and crimes of the occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, and the bombing, demolition and destruction that is taking place, there is a vital file that must always be remembered and placed on the list of the most important files, due to its extreme sensitivity and great danger to the lives of Palestinians, which is the file of the brutal Israeli measures against Palestinian prisoners in prisons, where the prison administration practices all forms of violence and severe beatings against them, and they live a life of humiliation and degradation, in light of Israel’s policy of taking revenge on the prisoners and killing them slowly.

Yesterday, a group of prisoners were released and returned to the Gaza Strip. Six of them went to hospitals for treatment and two to check if any of their family members were still alive. They presented horrific and cruel stories that the prison administration is carrying out, as the army deliberately puts their feet on their heads, and they are subjected to rounds of violent interrogation that include torture, electric shocks, beatings on the back, spine and abdomen with all kinds of weapons and batons, placing electric batons in sensitive areas and inside the mouth, in addition to breaking teeth, hanging them by the feet and hands and unleashing savage dogs on them.

Prisoners in all prisons live in extremely tragic conditions that are unbearable for the human mind. In addition to this, there is a deliberate shortage in the quantities of food provided to prisoners, deprivation of sleep, lack of water in the toilets, and preventing prisoners from showering.

These attacks resulted in hundreds of cases of amputation of limbs, cutting off hands and legs, and prisoners undergoing operations without anesthesia. Most importantly, dozens of them died due to torture and abuse, amid Israel’s insistence on refusing to allow any human rights or humanitarian organization, in addition to the Bar Association, to visit the prisoners, in order to prevent the retaliatory measures being carried out against the prisoners from being exposed.

One of the most important files of the battle, on the way to proving the Palestinian existence, preserving the pride of the prisoners and restoring their authority and power over the jailers through their struggle experiences that they have sealed with blood and sacrifices, can only be achieved by rallying around the issue of the prisoners and raising it at the highest international level, and mobilizing the largest humanitarian, human rights and social solidarity campaign, and considering it a strategic and central issue before it is too late, because what is happening inside the prisons portends a catastrophic and very dangerous situation.