Red Cross personnel expressed outrage over the way the Israel Prison Service treats released Palestinian prisoners

The International Committee of the Red Cross expressed its anger on Saturday over the way Israel treated Palestinian prisoners during their release on Saturday, as they were “handcuffed and in a painful position.” The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted an unnamed security source in its English version as saying: “The Red Cross expressed its anger over the way the Israeli Prison Service treated security prisoners during their release from Ketziot Prison (Negev Desert) today.”

“What angered the international organization most was the fact that the Palestinian prisoners were led away with their hands handcuffed behind their heads, which is a painful position,” according to the same source.

For its part, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, including 142 who were transferred from Ketziot Prison to the Gaza Strip and the rest were released from Ofer Prison to the West Bank.

This came after Hamas released 3 Israeli prisoners on Saturday morning, in the fourth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal.

Palestinian prisoners released by Israel on Saturday as part of the exchange deal with Hamas revealed that they were beaten, threatened with death, and deprived of food and drink, days before leaving prison.

A number of the released prisoners showed a bracelet that the Israeli army forced them to wear, bearing threatening phrases, such as "The Israeli people do not forget... I pursue my enemies and catch them," and another that read "The Israeli people are eternal."

A number of prisoners revealed during their reception in Ramallah that they faced death threats from the Israeli army, were subjected to violent beatings, torture,  and were deprived of food and drink, days before their release, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent.

The deteriorating health condition of the released prisoners was evident, as some of them appeared unable to walk on their own, while others were carried in wheelchairs.

Press statement issued by the Prisoners' Media Office:

"In light of the continued horrific violations practiced by the occupation prison administration against our heroic prisoners, the testimonies of the released prisoners reveal the extent of the crimes they were subjected to before their release, as they were subjected to severe beatings for days at the hands of the prison guards, which led to a number of them sustaining rib fractures.

These brutal practices reflect the level of abuse to which prisoners are subjected in the occupation prisons, which has escalated in an unprecedented manner since October 7, including physical and psychological torture, systematic starvation crimes, and deliberate medical neglect that has led to the spread of diseases, including scabies among prisoners.

The transfer of a number of released prisoners directly to hospitals to receive treatment, after spending years in captivity, confirms the extent of the ugliness of what they are exposed to inside fascist prisons, where the occupation practices brutal methods of torture that violate all international norms and laws related to prisoners. What the Palestinian prisoners are exposed to, in terms of torture, repression and abuse, amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and requires immediate intervention by the international community, the United Nations, and all human rights and humanitarian organizations, in order to stop these crimes and ensure that their perpetrators are held accountable."