In the weeks after a ceasefire took effect between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian prisoners released in a prisoner-hostage exchange reported consistent, disturbing details about detention conditions. According to doctors who accepted the bodies of prisoners released in the exchange, and journalists who verified the details, deceased prisoners also showed signs of abuse, including some who were allegedly shot point blank. T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights condemned this systemic, institutional abuse and called for investigation into Israeli prisons and the reinstatement of Red Cross visits to security prisoners.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, said:
“As more reports emerge of the abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons over the last two years, we strongly condemn these human rights violations and call for an independent investigation. We are horrified by prisoners’ reports of being beaten, denied medication and treatment for injuries, deprived of food and water, denied showers, and humiliated and interrogated. Bodies of prisoners were returned with signs of torture, including bruises, burns, and broken bones. Some people had been shot between the eyes, and some also showed signs of abuse after they were killed.
“We cannot look away from these human rights violations, nor can we simply move on now that the ceasefire is in effect. Approximately 9,000 Palestinian ‘security prisoners’ remain in Israeli prisons. We must be clear that these actions are despicable and illegal, and they certainly do not make Israelis safer.”
“The Red Cross must be allowed to visit prisoners, in keeping with international law. Since October 7, the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) has not been allowed to visit Palestinian prisoners, with Israel claiming it would pose a security risk. Last month, Defense Minister Israel Katz extended that ban, a policy that violates Israeli and international law. As Israeli human rights groups wrote in a petition to the High Court in 2023, ‘Israel is a state governed by the rule of law and must act accordingly. Its obligations toward those it detains do not change because of Hamas’ war crimes.’
“Israel’s violations of Palestinian prisoners’ human rights and human dignity are not only illegal, they are in opposition to our core Jewish values: k’vod habriot (human dignity) and btselem elohim (that all human beings are made in the image of God). The ancient rabbis understood that violations of human dignity are violations of the Divine: ‘You should not say: Because I have been dishonored, let my fellow person be dishonored along with me…R. Tanhuma explained: If you do so, know whom you are dishonoring – “He made him in the likeness of God.” (Gen. 5:1)’ (Bereshit Rabbah 24) The horrific abuses in Israeli prisons are truly a chillul Hashem, desecration of God’s name.
“T’ruah has a long history of standing up against state-sponsored torture, including fighting U.S.-sponsored torture beginning in 2005 and being among the founders of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. We will continue standing up to torture, whether perpetrated by the U.S. or Israeli governments. Anyone who cares about the future of the State of Israel must stand with those who are fighting for human rights, including the courageous Israeli and Palestinian human rights leaders and organizations who for years have been working to stop abuses such as these.”
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our network of over 2,300 rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.