Muazzaz Abayat‘s dad and mom barely recognised their son mendacity in a hospital mattress after being free of 9 months in Israeli detention, along with his weight halved from his ordinary heavyset construct, hollowed cheeks and shaggy hair.
“I came back from the dead,” the 37-year-old Palestinian, informed AFP at a hospital in Bethlehem within the occupied West Bank.
Abayat, a butcher by commerce, was arrested with out rationalization on October 26, simply over two weeks after the unprecedented Hamas assault on southern Israel that sparked the Gaza struggle.
He was held at a jail within the Negev desert, formally below so-called administrative detention, which meant he could possibly be held with out cost or trial for an prolonged interval.
“They arrested me at home, not surrounded by fighters but by my children and pregnant wife,” mentioned Abayat, whose sixth baby was born whereas he was in jail.
Detentions of West Bank Palestinians have soared because the struggle started on October 7, with common use of administrative detentions.
According to the Prisoners Club, a Palestinian watchdog, about 9,700 Palestinians are at present in Israeli jails, together with lots of below administrative detention.
The NGO estimates that arrests have doubled since October 7 in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months.
Violence has surged within the territory because the begin of the Gaza struggle, with a minimum of 572 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops or settlers, in accordance with the Palestinian authorities.
At least 16 Israelis have additionally died in Palestinian assaults, in accordance with official Israeli figures.
In a video that went viral on social media when Abayat was freed Tuesday, he’s seen limping and leaning on a person to stroll, whereas his proper hand appears paralysed.
“No human being on the face of the earth can imagine how life has been” he mentioned, calling the jail the place he was held, “the ‘Guantanamo of the Negev'”, after the US jail in Cuba used to carry detainees after the September 11, 2001 assaults.
“We were unjustly detained, killed and severely beaten with iron clubs and subjected to all kinds of torture,” Abayat added.
Israel’s jail administration informed AFP it was “not aware” of Abayat’s claims.
“All prisoners are detained according to the law. All basic rights required are fully applied by professionally trained prison guards,” an Israeli Prison Service (IPS) spokesperson informed AFP.
“The prisoner was examined and treated medically by the IPS’ finest doctors throughout his incarceration.” The spokesperson mentioned, Abayat may file a grievance if he wished.
Showing his bruised, bony legs, Abayat recounted beatings with golf equipment and chains, and mentioned his physique nonetheless damage throughout.
“They gave us 10 to 12 beans with pieces of cabbage, and we had to survive on that from 7.00 am until dinner time,” he mentioned whereas explaining his dramatic weight reduction.
A “before and after” photograph montage of Abayat shared on-line reveals a muscular man with a shaved head and trimmed beard — wildly completely different from the lengthy dishevelled hair and messy beard of the person within the Bethlehem hospital.
“This is enough to tell what happened to me,” he mentioned of the images.
His father Khalil Abayat informed AFP that his son “was a man who weighed about 100, 110 kilos (220 to 242 pounds) and was muscular”.
When Muazzaz stood on the hospital scale Wednesday, he weighed simply 54 kilograms.
“When I saw Muazzaz, he was not the same Muazzaz my son was before his arrest,” mentioned the daddy, shocked by the confusion his son appeared to endure from.
“He doesn’t recognise me, he’s disorientated and his health is very low.”
Khalil added, nevertheless, that docs had expressed confidence that Muazzaz’s situation would enhance. The former detainee has began consuming extra.
From his hospital mattress, Muazzaz admitted that he had “forgotten things”.
But he mentioned he was not fully executed with Israeli detention.
“I’ve left a small prison for the big prison” of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, he mentioned.
Source: www.anews.com.tr