In early December, images circulated worldwide showing dozens of Palestinian men in the city of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, who were stripped to their underwear, kneeling or sitting hunched over, then blindfolded and put into the back of Israeli military trucks like cattle. The vast majority of these detainees were civilians with no affiliation to Hamas, Israeli security officials later confirmed, and the men were taken away by the army without notifying their families of the detainees’ whereabouts. Some of them never returned.

+972 Magazine and Local Call spoke with four Palestinian civilians who appeared in these photos, or were arrested near the scene and taken to Israeli military detention centers, where they were held for several days or even weeks before being released back to Gaza. Their testimonies — along with 49 video testimonies published by various Arabic media outlets of Palestinians arrested in similar circumstances in recent weeks in the northern districts of Zeitoun, Jabalia, and Shuja’iya — indicate systematic abuse and torture by Israeli soldiers against all of the detainees, civilians and combatants alike.

According to these testimonies, Israeli soldiers subjected Palestinian detainees to electric shocks, burned their skin with lighters, spat in their mouths, and deprived them of sleep, food, and access to bathrooms until they defecated on themselves. Many were tied to a fence for hours, handcuffed, and blindfolded for most of the day. Some testified to having been beaten all over their bodies and having cigarettes extinguished on their necks or backs. Several people are known to have died as a result of being held in these conditions.

      • @[email protected]
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        401 year ago

        Good luck with genocide Trump… If you think he’d give two shits you’re kidding yourself

        • Quokka
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          -51 year ago

          Cool so vote for someone who doesn’t endorse genocide.

          • @[email protected]
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            81 year ago

            Oh gee I love splitting the votes between democrat nominee and a leftist nominee. Since I love doing this trump wins because there’s no ranked choice voting and trump gets enough votes! Wahoo!

            • Quokka
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              1 year ago

              Solution.

              You also vote for the leftist nominee.

              Why is it time and time again that leftists are the ones who have to abandon their ethics to back your candidates?

              America is nearly in the full grasp of fascism because you keep choosing the lesser of two evils instead of not choosing evil.

            • Quokka
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              -11 year ago

              Damn not one person in America doesn’t support genocide.

              • @[email protected]
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                01 year ago

                Our choices are an insurrectionist who wants to overturn American democracy and turn it into a dictatorship, a genocide supporter who is pretty good otherwise, or a nepotistic vaccine denier, a.k.a supporter of genocide of Americas via COVID. At this point I’d vote for anyone pro-choice, pro-democracy, and anti-genocide - regardless of party. Too bad no one running currently fits those criteria.

                • Quokka
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                  1 year ago

                  Damn, literally nobody.

                  Personally I’d say Cornell West is your best running choice, but really if you tried I’m sure you could find someone better.

            • @[email protected]
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              -51 year ago

              Oh no the horrors. My comment history condemning genocide! I’m really ashemed of it.

              Let’s go Genocide Joe! You do it! You can kill at least 20.000 kids before 13 January, we believe in you! Bypass Congress to send israel nukes woooo!

        • Quokka
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          -11 year ago

          Right wing trolls telling people to not vote for a right winger?

          Suuure bud.

          • @[email protected]
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            1 year ago

            Aw I have a fan. Or did you forget to change accounts?

            For the rest of the readers here: I have a long history of openly condemning Israeli apartheid. You will not find me defending religious extremists in any context, and I will always condemn mass violence.

            These people who believe that Trump will liberate Gaza are trolls engaged in an organized campaign to get people to not vote for Biden.

            • Diva (she/her)
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              1 year ago

              Why would I change accounts? I just love how your one conclusion is that all left opposition to the Democrats support for genocide is secret right wing trolls. I can’t get enough of mocking you for your supporting such shitty, shitty people.

              also it should go without saying but fuck trump too, Every US president is a criminal and should be prosecuted for warcrimes.

                • Diva (she/her)
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                  -71 year ago

                  Yeah, every fucking “progressive democrat” needs to learn the word “ceasefire” real fast or they’re fucking dead to me for every future election.

        • @[email protected]
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          -51 year ago

          That slander is predicated on the idea that there is a mainstream Left in the US, which is laughable if you’re even the least informed about politics in the remaining 95% (by population) of the World beyond that self-referential bubble called America.

          I feel for you guys having been born in a country with a power duopoly and were elections are performative rather than votes having genuine power to set the direction of the nation, but that mindless slogan that not wanting to vote for a guy shipping bombs and artillery rounds to the XXI century Nazis who are murdering in mass the members of the etnic group that live in the ghetto the created and militarilly control next door, is beyond ridiculous.

          I can understand the pain of being a tribalist who discovers the Chief of their tribe is a Nazi-lover and of trying to believe America is a Democratic and Free country all the while the only two people you’re allowed to select to lead your nation are Nazi-lovers (in a country of 350 million people, were I’m sure there are millions of perfectly competent president-material citizens who are not Nazi-lovers), but lets not try and solve those mental and emotional inconsistencies in your mind and your hearth (assuming you’re not a Nazi-lover yourself) with ridiculous sloganeering implying that those pointing that your tribe is led by a Nazi-lover hence you’re supporting Nazis if you stand with them, are doing so because they’re Nazi-lovers.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        I know that Israel is often cited as a client state, but it’s better described as a psuedoclient state. The entirety of NATO could cut off Israel entirely tomorrow, and it wouldn’t have any material impact on their capabilities. It would probably be enough international pressure, but Israel’s military would be capable of maintaining it’s genocide in roughly same capacity as it is now. Biden is culpable, but he’s not complicit.

        • @[email protected]
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          -41 year ago

          Mate israel just lost to like 1500 untrained randos breaking through their border. They are insanely weak. They are 100% reliant on bombs and F35 parts from NATO and America.

          The iron dome was already out if rockets from just the Hamas attack. NATO would stop sending them interceptors then all the rockets being sent back would land.

          Hezbollah has enough rockets to completely flatten israel. Granted they would probably also get flattened themselves, but the iron meme system has shown to be easily defeatable with just a barrage of cheap trash.