LONDON: Gaza-based human rights activist Ayman Lubbad claims that he was tortured by Israeli soldiers during his detention, the Guardian reported on Saturday.
Lubbad, who works at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, said he was detained on Dec. 7 when Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of his neighborhood.
The men were forced to undress in public, leading to global outrage as images of this incident circulated. The US described the images as “deeply disturbing,” and the International Committee of the Red Cross emphasized the need for the humane treatment of detainees.
Lubbad, who has not seen his wife and children for over a month, said that during his detention, he faced various forms of torture, a plight shared by many Palestinians recently detained by Israel.
According to reports published in Haaretz, at least six detainees have died, with one autopsy revealing one prisoner had severe injuries. Investigations by Reuters and +972 magazine alleged that hundreds of Gaza detainees were subjected to electric shocks, burns, stress positions, and deprivation of necessities.
Lubbad claimed that during his detention he was transferred to various locations and faced continuous mistreatment. He reported being forced to kneel for long hours, subjected to mock interrogations, severe cold and physical assault.
“The Israeli soldiers photographed us inappropriately and compelled some of the detained boys to dance. They set fire to the homes of the Muqayd, Mahdi, Kahlot and Sorour families in front of us while we were seated in the street,” he told the Guardian.
Lubbad was taken two hours later to a beach near the Zikim kibbutz in the north of Gaza, then “handcuffed and blindfolded” and transported to an army camp in Ofakim.
There Gaza residents were detained behind barbed wire-enclosed shelters, with 500 to 700 men overseen by Israeli soldiers in two elevated guard posts. The men had to kneel with their eyes covered from 5 a.m. to midnight.
“Any attempt to change your position or remove the blindfold resulted in punishment, including standing with hands raised above the head for about three hours and beatings,” Lubbad said.
Interrogations were conducted with an investigator who mocked his job by saying: “I’ll teach you your rights well in prison.”
Five days after being ordered to leave his home, he was transferred again. He claimed he was beaten in the ribs during the move and was in so much pain that he could not sleep for two nights.
Other prisoners told him that the new facility was located in Jerusalem’s Jabal Mukaber neighborhood. On his first day, he was interrogated from midday for 10 hours.
His interrogator demanded information about Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and when Lubbad explained that he was a civilian activist who was unaware of the armed groups, the man became enraged and threatened to treat Gaza residents like dogs.
“The investigator threatened me and cursed me with obscene words while hitting me in the face. He placed a blindfold over my eyes and went to drink tea or have lunch,” Lubbad said.
“On his return, he would ask me the same questions about Hamas and I would answer that I did not know any details and that my social relationships were very limited.”
He claimed that at the end of the interrogation he was blindfolded and forced to sit outside in the freezing cold. He was later assaulted and heard that others had been beaten too. “After I could not bear the extreme cold, some soldiers came and beat me and told me ‘every dog has its day.’”
The detention center reportedly holds hundreds of Gaza residents who had been working in Israel before Oct. 7.
Lubbad was released, without being charged, in Rafah, far from his family in Beit Lahia. Due to Israel’s restrictions on people’s movements, he was unable to meet his family.
After crossing into Gaza, Lubbad later heard that his brother was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The Israeli army, when asked by the Guardian about Lubbad’s claims, stated that all allegations of abuse would be investigated.
