16 july 2010
'Citizens Action to Dismantle Nuclear Weapons Completely' has prepared a 33 page report showing the presence of tens of tons of depleted uranium in the Gaza Strip.The Israeli attacks of late December and January are the culprit, report the international organization. "The quantity of depleted uranium may amount to no less than 75 tons found in the soil and subsoil in the Gaza Strip," is the study's quote.
As many have suggested, the Israeli military used or may have used depleted uranium in the ground and air assaults on the Strip during the operation in the period between 27 December 2008 and January 18, 2009. The report indicated that Norwegian Dr. Mads Gilbert, during the first few days of participation in voluntary humanitarian work at Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital, condemned the presence of radioactive material that may have been depleted uranium in the bodies of the victims.
And now the accusation emerged more strongly after several months of investigations carried out in close association with the peoples concerned, and with the assistance of international expert on sustainable development and use of prohibited weapons Jean – Francois Feacheno.
The international mission itself was composed of four members, including expert Feacheno, adviser to the reduction of pollution, and experts accredited to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). They travelled to the Gaza Strip in April 2009 under the auspices of the Arab Committee for Human Rights.
The specialist laboratory used analysis of soil and dust samples from their mission to the Gaza Strip and found the elements of depleted uranium, a radioactive material, causing cancer and deformities. The analysis also showed the presence of particles of the cesium, a radioactive and carcinogenic dust which includes asbestos, a carcinogenic, in addition to volatile organic compounds and fine particles that pose health risks, especially children's health, those living with asthma and the elderly.
Also found in the samples was phosphate resulting from the oxidation of white phosphorus and tungsten material carcinogens, in addition to copper and alumi num oxide, a carcinogenic and radioactive thorium oxide material.
As many have suggested, the Israeli military used or may have used depleted uranium in the ground and air assaults on the Strip during the operation in the period between 27 December 2008 and January 18, 2009. The report indicated that Norwegian Dr. Mads Gilbert, during the first few days of participation in voluntary humanitarian work at Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital, condemned the presence of radioactive material that may have been depleted uranium in the bodies of the victims.
And now the accusation emerged more strongly after several months of investigations carried out in close association with the peoples concerned, and with the assistance of international expert on sustainable development and use of prohibited weapons Jean – Francois Feacheno.
The international mission itself was composed of four members, including expert Feacheno, adviser to the reduction of pollution, and experts accredited to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). They travelled to the Gaza Strip in April 2009 under the auspices of the Arab Committee for Human Rights.
The specialist laboratory used analysis of soil and dust samples from their mission to the Gaza Strip and found the elements of depleted uranium, a radioactive material, causing cancer and deformities. The analysis also showed the presence of particles of the cesium, a radioactive and carcinogenic dust which includes asbestos, a carcinogenic, in addition to volatile organic compounds and fine particles that pose health risks, especially children's health, those living with asthma and the elderly.
Also found in the samples was phosphate resulting from the oxidation of white phosphorus and tungsten material carcinogens, in addition to copper and alumi num oxide, a carcinogenic and radioactive thorium oxide material.
18 jan 2010
Thinking about the World’s Largest Open-air Prison on Martin Luther King Day
President Obama marks MLK Day at VermontAve. Baptist Church in Washington D.C
A cold rain drizzles on the street outside the cafe where I’m sipping tea on this Martin Luther King Day. Of course, this holiday goes unnoticed here in Amman.
Jordan – it is a uniquely American recognition of the life and work of one of the world’s great civil rights and peace activists. MLK’s life’s work and ultimately his sacrifice in death paved the way for the positive changes in the circumstances of African Americans in the US over the last 40-50 years; and indeed race relations in general. While no one would deny that there is still much room for improvement, 46 years after King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington an African American serves in Washington as President of the United States. Yesterday President Obama spoke at Vermont Avenue Baptist church and invoked the memory of MLK’s hard work and influence .
Obama quoted a bit from a sermon King had preached at the same church almost a half century earlier, which itself was a quote from a poem:
Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne…
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.
With this verse, I couldn’t help but think of another anniversary that was marked today. A year ago today, Israel’s deadly offensive into Gaza (Operation Cast Lead) ended. The result? Shattered homes and lives.
A cold rain drizzles on the street outside the cafe where I’m sipping tea on this Martin Luther King Day. Of course, this holiday goes unnoticed here in Amman.
Jordan – it is a uniquely American recognition of the life and work of one of the world’s great civil rights and peace activists. MLK’s life’s work and ultimately his sacrifice in death paved the way for the positive changes in the circumstances of African Americans in the US over the last 40-50 years; and indeed race relations in general. While no one would deny that there is still much room for improvement, 46 years after King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington an African American serves in Washington as President of the United States. Yesterday President Obama spoke at Vermont Avenue Baptist church and invoked the memory of MLK’s hard work and influence .
Obama quoted a bit from a sermon King had preached at the same church almost a half century earlier, which itself was a quote from a poem:
Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne…
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.
With this verse, I couldn’t help but think of another anniversary that was marked today. A year ago today, Israel’s deadly offensive into Gaza (Operation Cast Lead) ended. The result? Shattered homes and lives.
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1,385 Palestinans dead (762 non-combatants – 318 children)
13 Israelis dead (3 non-combatants – 0 children) 3,500 residential buildings destroyed in Gaza 20,000 Palestinians left homeless (stats from B’Tselem the Israeli Center for Human Rights) A year later, the devastation still persists. A group of 8 NGO’s (Amnesty International UK, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Medecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save the Children UK and Trocaire) recently released a report detailing the current abysmal situation in Gaza. (The Gaza Strip : A Humanitarian Implosin) None of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents are allowed in or out of the territory and a strict blockade has prohibited the import of goods and |
supplies, including building materials, food, and much needed medicines. 95% of Gaza’s industry remains non-functional because of lack of power and supplies. Electricity is only available sporadically (8-12 hours per day).
The Gaza power plant which at one time could produce 140mW off power now is only capable of 60mW. The Deep Poverty Line for Gaza is $2.3 per day – 70% of the population now lives on the equivalent of $1.2 per day. 80% of the population relies on outside Humanitarian aid which has been restricted from 200 trucks per day to 45 (500-600 are estimated to adequately meet current need).
Millions of liters of sewage remain untreated daily and runs openly into the sea. The healthcare situation is horrendous with a lack of supplies and electricity and cases of easily preventable disease are on the rise. Doctors report a growing mental health crisis as Gazans cope with loss of life, livelihood, and the daily anxiety of trying to survive. 56% of the population are children who will bear the brunt of this mass imprisonment and humanitarian debacle for decades to come.
The chief reason cited for this nearly complete blockade (imprisonment?) of Gaza by Israel is security, namely the on-going Qassem rocket attacks on Southern Israel by militant groups in Gaza. In four years these have resulted in 11 Israeli deaths. In the same time period over 2500 Gazans have been killed in retaliatory attacks. One of the objectives of Operation Cast Lead was to end this largely ineffective rocket attacks. A year later they still occur as a beleaguered populace lashes out against the decades old military occupation.
A network of smuggler’s tunnels that would put Hogan’s Heroes to shame has developed over the years beneath the Gaza-Egypt border. Everything from medecine to food to cement to guns are reportedly moved through this network. To Gazans these tunnels are a life line. Egypt recently began building a security wall which will apparently extend 20 meters deep in hopes of cutting off this activity. The project also includes pipelines which will flood any remaining tunnels with sea water with unknown consequences for the natural aquifer and already limited fresh water supply in the area.
And so to echo the poem in MLK’s sermon from so long ago . . .
Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne…
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.
The stark truth of the situation in Gaza is readily available to anyone who cares to find out, from any High School student with an internet connection to the halls of power in the the most affluent and influential nations in the world. Wrong remains on the thrones in both Israel and Palestine, and indeed around the world, as those who govern turn blind eyes and issue anemic policy statements and position papers. The future of Gaza seems not just a dim unknown, but shrouded in deepest night. Some scientists figure that the environmental toll alone will take decades to reverse – the entire area might be condemned as uninhabitable if American EPA standards were enforced.
And yet God himself is in the shadows keeping watch above his own. When, oh when, will justice roll down for Gaza? Justice will never be fully meted out by walls, rockets, guns, or the strong arm of man. It will only come at the merciful hands of the Almighty and in His time. When will the day of justice come for the weak and widowed and orphaned of Gaza? Not a day too soon. But on that day woe to any who has the blood of injustice on their hands. Those stains can be invisible in the normal light of day but will be shockingly revealed when the light of Him who watches from the shadows is fully revealed.
I do not mean to say that the situation is fully hopeless on the human level. I firmly believe that one of the greatest gifts that God bestowed upon humanity is that of freedom. By it’s nature this freedom is a bit of a two-edged sword. It gives us the capacity for both great good and great evil. Both Israelis and Palestinians can still work towards peace and security and freedom. As the NGO report says, “The current situation in Gaza is man-made, completely avoidable
and, with the necessary political will, can also be reversed.” Or perhaps as MLK said more eloquently:
“Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
These words were spoken with conviction in the hours of dark night for the African American community, yet today a black man is President of the United States of America. What will the situation in Gaza be 50 years from now? From a human perspective the same or much worse than today. But if frail yet arrogant humanity would get out of the way of God’s mercy and justice then perhaps much, much better. In another part of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech he recognized whites who had
“come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We can not walk alone.”
This truth resonates today as much as it did in 1963, but it applies not just to blacks and whites, but to Israelis and Palestinians and indeed, all peoples of the world.
We cannot walk alone, nor can we simply expect to lay down centuries of hatred and walk arm in arm singing kumbaya. No, we must walk together humbly in fear of God for the shadow we perceive around him is of our own making and will one day be laid bare. On that day we will be ashamed of the sufferings we have imposed on each other in the name of what we supposed to be right and dear and true.
The Gaza power plant which at one time could produce 140mW off power now is only capable of 60mW. The Deep Poverty Line for Gaza is $2.3 per day – 70% of the population now lives on the equivalent of $1.2 per day. 80% of the population relies on outside Humanitarian aid which has been restricted from 200 trucks per day to 45 (500-600 are estimated to adequately meet current need).
Millions of liters of sewage remain untreated daily and runs openly into the sea. The healthcare situation is horrendous with a lack of supplies and electricity and cases of easily preventable disease are on the rise. Doctors report a growing mental health crisis as Gazans cope with loss of life, livelihood, and the daily anxiety of trying to survive. 56% of the population are children who will bear the brunt of this mass imprisonment and humanitarian debacle for decades to come.
The chief reason cited for this nearly complete blockade (imprisonment?) of Gaza by Israel is security, namely the on-going Qassem rocket attacks on Southern Israel by militant groups in Gaza. In four years these have resulted in 11 Israeli deaths. In the same time period over 2500 Gazans have been killed in retaliatory attacks. One of the objectives of Operation Cast Lead was to end this largely ineffective rocket attacks. A year later they still occur as a beleaguered populace lashes out against the decades old military occupation.
A network of smuggler’s tunnels that would put Hogan’s Heroes to shame has developed over the years beneath the Gaza-Egypt border. Everything from medecine to food to cement to guns are reportedly moved through this network. To Gazans these tunnels are a life line. Egypt recently began building a security wall which will apparently extend 20 meters deep in hopes of cutting off this activity. The project also includes pipelines which will flood any remaining tunnels with sea water with unknown consequences for the natural aquifer and already limited fresh water supply in the area.
And so to echo the poem in MLK’s sermon from so long ago . . .
Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne…
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.
The stark truth of the situation in Gaza is readily available to anyone who cares to find out, from any High School student with an internet connection to the halls of power in the the most affluent and influential nations in the world. Wrong remains on the thrones in both Israel and Palestine, and indeed around the world, as those who govern turn blind eyes and issue anemic policy statements and position papers. The future of Gaza seems not just a dim unknown, but shrouded in deepest night. Some scientists figure that the environmental toll alone will take decades to reverse – the entire area might be condemned as uninhabitable if American EPA standards were enforced.
And yet God himself is in the shadows keeping watch above his own. When, oh when, will justice roll down for Gaza? Justice will never be fully meted out by walls, rockets, guns, or the strong arm of man. It will only come at the merciful hands of the Almighty and in His time. When will the day of justice come for the weak and widowed and orphaned of Gaza? Not a day too soon. But on that day woe to any who has the blood of injustice on their hands. Those stains can be invisible in the normal light of day but will be shockingly revealed when the light of Him who watches from the shadows is fully revealed.
I do not mean to say that the situation is fully hopeless on the human level. I firmly believe that one of the greatest gifts that God bestowed upon humanity is that of freedom. By it’s nature this freedom is a bit of a two-edged sword. It gives us the capacity for both great good and great evil. Both Israelis and Palestinians can still work towards peace and security and freedom. As the NGO report says, “The current situation in Gaza is man-made, completely avoidable
and, with the necessary political will, can also be reversed.” Or perhaps as MLK said more eloquently:
“Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
These words were spoken with conviction in the hours of dark night for the African American community, yet today a black man is President of the United States of America. What will the situation in Gaza be 50 years from now? From a human perspective the same or much worse than today. But if frail yet arrogant humanity would get out of the way of God’s mercy and justice then perhaps much, much better. In another part of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech he recognized whites who had
“come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We can not walk alone.”
This truth resonates today as much as it did in 1963, but it applies not just to blacks and whites, but to Israelis and Palestinians and indeed, all peoples of the world.
We cannot walk alone, nor can we simply expect to lay down centuries of hatred and walk arm in arm singing kumbaya. No, we must walk together humbly in fear of God for the shadow we perceive around him is of our own making and will one day be laid bare. On that day we will be ashamed of the sufferings we have imposed on each other in the name of what we supposed to be right and dear and true.
11 jan 2010
A week of 'abandonment, desperation, suffocation, isolation'
On 12 January 2009, one year ago today, nine Palestinian detainees were blindfolded, handcuffed, and transported to Israel's Erez border crossing. Several hours later, they were told to run into Gaza, to look straight ahead - and not to look back.
During their time at Erez, the nine were subjected to harsh interrogation and made to strip completely, one of them alleged, capping off more than a week of mistreatment described by other detainees as amounting to abandonment, desperation, suffocation and isolation.
On the morning of 5 January, the Al-Atatra sandpits area 10 kilometers north of Gaza City, a largely agricultural neighborhood with orange and lemon orchards, suffered heavy aerial bombardment, which was followed by a ground incursion by Israeli troops.
Richard Goldstone's UN inquiry met six people, members of the same extended family and residents of Al-Atatra, three of whom were direct witnesses and victims of the events that occurred in the aftermath of the ground incursion. Their testimonies are supported by those of three others, also residents of Al-Atatra, submitted to the mission by an NGO, the final report of the mission stated.
Goldstone's report quotes a witness who states that all 65 detainees from the original group taken from Al-Atatra to Israel were eventually released. Some members of his family were detained afterwards, but not in the original group of 65, according to the report. At the time of writing, three of these remain incarcerated in various detention facilities of the Israel Prison Service.
An unknown number remain in prison facing charges of being illegal combatants and members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. The first hearing was scheduled to be held in August in Israel.
The saga began on the morning of 5 January, shortly after the ground operations began, when an estimated 40 Israeli soldiers broke into several homes, including that of the witness, who is not named for "security reasons." He described to the Goldstone mission how 65 persons, several of whom were holding white flags, were made to assemble in the street.
The soldiers separated the men from the women. The men were made to line up against a wall and strip to their underwear. The witness indicated that any attempt to resist the soldiers was met with physical force, resulting in injuries.
Approximately 20 minutes later, they were taken into a house owned by Khalil Misbah Attar, where they were detained for a day, the men still separated from the women. The house had been struck by a number of missiles that morning and was badly damaged. Witnesses indicated that the house was at that time being used by the Israeli armed forces as a military base and sniper position.
At around 10 pm, all of the men were handcuffed behind their backs with plastic restraints and blindfolded. The men, 11 women and at least seven children below the age of 14 were taken on foot to Al-Kaklouk located south of the American School, one to two kilometres away. Many of the men remained in their underwear, exposed to the harsh winter weather (According to the BBC weather services, temperatures in the Gaza Strip in December and January, on average, vary from maximum 17° to minimum 7° Celsius.).
The witness told Goldstone that, on arrival at Al-Kaklouk, everyone was asked to clamber down into trenches, which had been dug to create a pit surrounded by a wall of sand, about three meters high. There were three such pits, each of which was surrounded by barbed wire. They were estimated to cover about 7,000 square meters ("six or seven donums") each.
He described how they were assembled in long single files, rather than massed together, and held in these pits, in the open air and exposed to cold temperatures for three days. Each pit accommodated approximately 20 people. They were forced to sit in stress positions, on their knees and leaning forward keeping their heads down. They were monitored by soldiers and were not allowed to communicate with each other. They had no access to food or water on the first day of their internment, and were given a sip of water and an olive each to eat on the second and third days of their detention.
They had limited access to toilet facilities. The men had to wait for two to three hours after asking before they were allowed to leave the pits to relieve themselves and sometimes were able to remove their blindfolds for the purpose. A few of them were told to relieve themselves inside the pit, behind a small mount of sand. They stated that it was culturally too difficult for the women to seek permission to relieve themselves and they did not ask.
AD/01 states that some tanks were inside the pit with at least one tank positioned at the eastern end. While the people were held there, the tank facing inland each day sporadically fired on the houses along the road opposite the site.
They recounted that on 8 January, the women and children were released and told to go to Jabaliyah. The men were transferred to military barracks near the northern border, identified as the Izokim Barracks. At the Izokim barracks, the men were detained in pits similar to but smaller than those in al-Kaklouk. They continued to be exposed to the cold temperature, rain and the constant sound of tank movement overhead. The witnesses have described to the Mission the experience of continued and prolonged exposure to the sound of this tank movement as disorienting and creating feelings of futility, isolation, helplessness and abject terror.
The men were held handcuffed and in their underwear in the Izokim barracks overnight. They were questioned intermittently, mostly on details and locations of Qassam rockets, the tunnels and the whereabouts of Hamas parliamentarians. According to statements made to the mission, they were beaten during the interrogation and threatened with death and being run over by tanks. The mission notes that the nature and types of questions asked remained the same throughout the interrogations in various detention facilities.
On 9 January, the men were taken to a prison in Israel, indentified by one witness as the Negev prison, where they remained until 12 January. They were detained in one section of the prison, alternating between being held in isolation and in shared cells, and were subjected to harsh interrogation, often by two people dressed in civilian clothes. Interrogation focused on the identification of Hamas tunnels and arms as well as the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit.
They recounted that they were shackled to a chair with plastic strips and interrogated several times, with AD/01B stating that he was made to strip naked during an interrogation. He was kept in solitary confinement where a soldier would come intermittently during the day, and slam the cell door open and shut, exposing him to extremely cold temperatures. One stated that during the first interrogation he was verbally threatened and in the subsequent two he was blindfolded and beaten. He was made to stand up and face the wall, following which his face was smashed against the wall several times before he was severely beaten (kicked and punched) on his back and buttocks.
Requests for clothing were denied. During the interrogation the detainees were informed that they were “illegal combatants” and that they had no protection under the Geneva Conventions. They had limited access to food, water and sanitation. Their morning meal was a bottle-cap-sized piece of bread with a drop of marmalade. The evening meal, if provided, consisted of rotting sardines and cheese on mouldy bread.
One described the experience of being detained, stripped and shackled as one of abandonment, desperation, suffocation and isolation. He continues to experience discomfort where he was beaten and is unable to sit and sleep comfortably.
Another stated that while in Negev prison an additional group arrived. They were kept separately in the second section. The exact number of detainees in the second group is unknown, although one indicated to the mission that the second group was smaller.
During their time at Erez, the nine were subjected to harsh interrogation and made to strip completely, one of them alleged, capping off more than a week of mistreatment described by other detainees as amounting to abandonment, desperation, suffocation and isolation.
On the morning of 5 January, the Al-Atatra sandpits area 10 kilometers north of Gaza City, a largely agricultural neighborhood with orange and lemon orchards, suffered heavy aerial bombardment, which was followed by a ground incursion by Israeli troops.
Richard Goldstone's UN inquiry met six people, members of the same extended family and residents of Al-Atatra, three of whom were direct witnesses and victims of the events that occurred in the aftermath of the ground incursion. Their testimonies are supported by those of three others, also residents of Al-Atatra, submitted to the mission by an NGO, the final report of the mission stated.
Goldstone's report quotes a witness who states that all 65 detainees from the original group taken from Al-Atatra to Israel were eventually released. Some members of his family were detained afterwards, but not in the original group of 65, according to the report. At the time of writing, three of these remain incarcerated in various detention facilities of the Israel Prison Service.
An unknown number remain in prison facing charges of being illegal combatants and members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. The first hearing was scheduled to be held in August in Israel.
The saga began on the morning of 5 January, shortly after the ground operations began, when an estimated 40 Israeli soldiers broke into several homes, including that of the witness, who is not named for "security reasons." He described to the Goldstone mission how 65 persons, several of whom were holding white flags, were made to assemble in the street.
The soldiers separated the men from the women. The men were made to line up against a wall and strip to their underwear. The witness indicated that any attempt to resist the soldiers was met with physical force, resulting in injuries.
Approximately 20 minutes later, they were taken into a house owned by Khalil Misbah Attar, where they were detained for a day, the men still separated from the women. The house had been struck by a number of missiles that morning and was badly damaged. Witnesses indicated that the house was at that time being used by the Israeli armed forces as a military base and sniper position.
At around 10 pm, all of the men were handcuffed behind their backs with plastic restraints and blindfolded. The men, 11 women and at least seven children below the age of 14 were taken on foot to Al-Kaklouk located south of the American School, one to two kilometres away. Many of the men remained in their underwear, exposed to the harsh winter weather (According to the BBC weather services, temperatures in the Gaza Strip in December and January, on average, vary from maximum 17° to minimum 7° Celsius.).
The witness told Goldstone that, on arrival at Al-Kaklouk, everyone was asked to clamber down into trenches, which had been dug to create a pit surrounded by a wall of sand, about three meters high. There were three such pits, each of which was surrounded by barbed wire. They were estimated to cover about 7,000 square meters ("six or seven donums") each.
He described how they were assembled in long single files, rather than massed together, and held in these pits, in the open air and exposed to cold temperatures for three days. Each pit accommodated approximately 20 people. They were forced to sit in stress positions, on their knees and leaning forward keeping their heads down. They were monitored by soldiers and were not allowed to communicate with each other. They had no access to food or water on the first day of their internment, and were given a sip of water and an olive each to eat on the second and third days of their detention.
They had limited access to toilet facilities. The men had to wait for two to three hours after asking before they were allowed to leave the pits to relieve themselves and sometimes were able to remove their blindfolds for the purpose. A few of them were told to relieve themselves inside the pit, behind a small mount of sand. They stated that it was culturally too difficult for the women to seek permission to relieve themselves and they did not ask.
AD/01 states that some tanks were inside the pit with at least one tank positioned at the eastern end. While the people were held there, the tank facing inland each day sporadically fired on the houses along the road opposite the site.
They recounted that on 8 January, the women and children were released and told to go to Jabaliyah. The men were transferred to military barracks near the northern border, identified as the Izokim Barracks. At the Izokim barracks, the men were detained in pits similar to but smaller than those in al-Kaklouk. They continued to be exposed to the cold temperature, rain and the constant sound of tank movement overhead. The witnesses have described to the Mission the experience of continued and prolonged exposure to the sound of this tank movement as disorienting and creating feelings of futility, isolation, helplessness and abject terror.
The men were held handcuffed and in their underwear in the Izokim barracks overnight. They were questioned intermittently, mostly on details and locations of Qassam rockets, the tunnels and the whereabouts of Hamas parliamentarians. According to statements made to the mission, they were beaten during the interrogation and threatened with death and being run over by tanks. The mission notes that the nature and types of questions asked remained the same throughout the interrogations in various detention facilities.
On 9 January, the men were taken to a prison in Israel, indentified by one witness as the Negev prison, where they remained until 12 January. They were detained in one section of the prison, alternating between being held in isolation and in shared cells, and were subjected to harsh interrogation, often by two people dressed in civilian clothes. Interrogation focused on the identification of Hamas tunnels and arms as well as the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit.
They recounted that they were shackled to a chair with plastic strips and interrogated several times, with AD/01B stating that he was made to strip naked during an interrogation. He was kept in solitary confinement where a soldier would come intermittently during the day, and slam the cell door open and shut, exposing him to extremely cold temperatures. One stated that during the first interrogation he was verbally threatened and in the subsequent two he was blindfolded and beaten. He was made to stand up and face the wall, following which his face was smashed against the wall several times before he was severely beaten (kicked and punched) on his back and buttocks.
Requests for clothing were denied. During the interrogation the detainees were informed that they were “illegal combatants” and that they had no protection under the Geneva Conventions. They had limited access to food, water and sanitation. Their morning meal was a bottle-cap-sized piece of bread with a drop of marmalade. The evening meal, if provided, consisted of rotting sardines and cheese on mouldy bread.
One described the experience of being detained, stripped and shackled as one of abandonment, desperation, suffocation and isolation. He continues to experience discomfort where he was beaten and is unable to sit and sleep comfortably.
Another stated that while in Negev prison an additional group arrived. They were kept separately in the second section. The exact number of detainees in the second group is unknown, although one indicated to the mission that the second group was smaller.
