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Palestinians Recount 'Torture' in Israeli Army Custody

A Palestinian man, released after detention by Israeli forces in Gaza, awaits treatment at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah. SAID KHATIB / AFP
A Palestinian man, released after detention by Israeli forces in Gaza, awaits treatment at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah. SAID KHATIB / AFP
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Palestinians Recount 'Torture' in Israeli Army Custody

A Palestinian man, released after detention by Israeli forces in Gaza, awaits treatment at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah. SAID KHATIB / AFP
A Palestinian man, released after detention by Israeli forces in Gaza, awaits treatment at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah. SAID KHATIB / AFP

Palestinians held by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip had suffered torture, two freed detainees and a medic said Sunday, a charged denied by the military.
The two men were among hundreds detained by Israeli forces over alleged links with armed group Hamas during Israel's ongoing ground offensive in the besieged Hamas-run territory.
Israel vowed to defeat Hamas after a deadly attack by militants on October 7, launching a relentless military campaign in Gaza.
About 20 men released from Israeli custody "have bruises and marks of blows on their bodies", Marwan al-Hams, hospital director in the southern city of Rafah, told AFP.
Hams said the freed Palestinians were admitted to Al-Najjar hospital upon their release.
The Israeli army rejected the claims, saying detainees are "treated in accordance with international law".
"While detained, the suspects are given sufficient food and water and treated according to protocol," the army told AFP in a statement.
Nayef Ali, 22, said he was detained in Gaza City's eastern Zaitun suburb and later taken to an Israeli detention facility, and showed cuts on his wrists and other parts of his body.
"They (Israeli troops) tied our hands behind our backs for two days," he said.
"We were not allowed to eat or drink, neither were we allowed to use the toilet," he added.
"There were only beatings and beatings."
Ali said the detainees were put in an area along the border with Israel where it was "freezing cold".
"They threw cold water on us before transferring us to a prison, where it was again torture and beatings."
Khamis al-Bardini, 55, also alleged torture by Israeli soldiers, saying they poured "cold water on our heads through the night" along with "beatings during the day".
In recent weeks, the army has faced international criticism after viral footage of detainees stripped down to their underwear and blindfolded with their hands tied behind the backs.
The army has said it was investigating the deaths of "terrorists in military detention centers" after Israeli media reported that several detainees had died in custody.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.