Some Palestinian prisoners released yesterday as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal have claimed they suffered abuse while serving their sentences in Israeli jails, reports CNN.
"It was so difficult. No rational human can imagine what they would see in prison," Ahmed Awad, who was serving three life sentences for murder, told CNN after being released in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
"You can't imagine the way they deal with prisoners. They humiliated us and beat us daily without any reason."
"There was no treatment, we couldn't even take painkillers," another released prisoner, 45-year-old Faisal Mahmood Abdullah Al Khaleefi, told CNN in Ramallah.Al Khaleefi had been convicted of security, weapons and other offenses and was in prison for 10 years.
"As for doctors, the one who was treating us also beat us. The first one to beat (us) was the doctor," he added.
Al Khaleefi also alleged prison authorities "left us in the sun. They left us on the gravel, 12 hours."
"From time to time they would force us to stand up, beat us or throw us on our cellmates," he added.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said Monday that "many prisoners, especially those from Gaza, showed clear signs of physical and psychological torture, and there were documented cases of abuse even until the last moments of their release."
CNN has asked the Israeli prison authorities for a response to the allegations.