World Courant
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Faraj al-Samouni, 39, sits in a tent in a makeshift camp in Deir el-Balah, surrounded by his household who can hardly imagine he’s nonetheless alive after months of Israeli captivity.
“My brothers did not acknowledge me after I was launched,” he says. He’s weakened, having misplaced 30 kg (66 kilos) in captivity, 30 p.c of his physique weight.
His mom, Zahwa, 56, doesn’t care. She sits beaming subsequent to him, welcoming guests, principally kinfolk of different prisoners searching for details about their incarcerated kinfolk.
Faraj spent greater than six months in captivity after he and his two brothers had been arrested on November 16 whereas strolling by way of the so-called “protected hall” on their method to southern Gaza.
In December, Al Jazeera spoke to Zahwa and her sister-wife Zeenat, shortly after Faraj and his brothers Abdullah, 24, and Hamam, 16, had been taken away.
Zeenat’s sons Abdullah and Hamam are nonetheless being held. Their destiny is unknown.
Tortured, interrogated, starved
“It was a shock after I was arrested. I’m a farmer with no political exercise,” Faraj says.
“I used to be strolling by way of the protected hall with my spouse and kids, carrying my daughter. Israeli troopers referred to as Abdullah, Hamam was upset and the troopers referred to as him too,” Faraj recalled.
“I used to be indignant and protested that they’d my brothers, in order that they observed me. Abu blousa hamra (man in a purple shirt), come right here,” the soldier stated.
“I gave my daughter to my spouse and walked over to her. They stripped us bare and handcuffed us.”
Faraj and about 75 different males remained handcuffed and blindfolded as troopers beat them earlier than they had been taken to a location the place he couldn’t establish them.
“They had been barracks, that is the place the extreme torture began,” he says.
“The beatings targeting delicate physique elements. Feminine troopers stamped on our heads with their steel noses.”
Interrogations then passed off, throughout which Faraj was pressured to offer details about Hamas, its members, rocket launch websites and particulars about October 7.
“After I denied having any ties to Hamas or any navy or political actions, the interrogator went loopy. He shouted, ‘You’re a liar!’ and hit me even tougher.”
Faraj estimates he spent 30 days within the barracks. The torture left him unable to relaxation, as he suffered fractures in his decrease again and neck.
“We had been solely allowed to bathe as soon as and so they didn’t give us any meals or water for days. They gave us one loaf of bread for 3 folks and for those who requested for something you had been overwhelmed.”
“My brothers did not acknowledge me after I was launched,” Faraj says, displaying a photograph of what he seemed like earlier than he was taken (Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera)
At some point, he says, three younger males returned from interrogation, their buttocks bleeding and unable to maneuver.
They had been overwhelmed and raped with sticks.
“We tried to assist them as a lot as doable and demanded therapy. The one reply was to offer them half a paracetamol capsule.”
‘Welcome to Hell’ within the Naqab
Ultimately, Faraj was transferred to a detention middle within the Naqab desert (Negev).
“The guards greeted us sarcastically: ‘Welcome to hell,’” he says.
“I used to be stripped bare and tied to a chair with a gap within the backside. The interrogators tortured us by making use of stress and hitting us straight on our delicate physique elements within the excessive chilly.
For days I lay like that, pooping right into a bucket that had been positioned beneath me.”
In accordance with Faraj, the kind of torture the guards used relied on the prisoner’s happiness.
“After they took me again to the cell, I noticed prisoners whose pores and skin had melted…burned by scorching water poured straight on their our bodies.
“They screamed in ache day and night time, however nobody obtained any therapy.”
The prisoners had been moved to tents surrounded by barbed wire. Every tent held about 30 prisoners.
“Sleeping comfortably was a dream. We had been allowed to bathe as soon as each few weeks, all inside an hour from 8:00 to 9:00.”
Rashes and pores and skin ailments resembling scabies unfold among the many prisoners.
“We had one towel for 30 folks, which we divided into small items. We had one uniform, the identical as once we arrived. I had scabies a number of instances.”
At some point Faraj received indignant and demanded therapy.
“That day I used to be dragged away and put in solitary confinement for 3 days… the torture was so dangerous.”
Faraj says that as a result of there was no therapy out there, the prisoners made do with what they’d: they utilized a bit tomato juice to their pores and skin to alleviate the itching.
They got one tomato to divide amongst 4 prisoners, however the discomfort was so extreme that it was value utilizing the tomato on their pores and skin.
The torment of not realizing
Regardless of the every day ache of his captivity, Faraj remembers most the day an officer instructed him that his spouse, youngsters and mom had been killed in a bomb assault on December 30.
“I used to be shocked, particularly as a result of he named me a date and confirmed me photos of useless folks and physique elements, claiming they had been my household,” Faraj recalled.
“I pretended to be calm for him, however after I received again to the cell, I handed out.”
Faraj had no method to confirm what he had been instructed, and neither did the opposite prisoners who had been instructed their households had been killed.
A stream of holiday makers got here in to see Faraj (Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera)
One other methodology of psychological torture was to inform prisoners they’d be launched, then put them in solitary confinement.
“After I was instructed I used to be being launched this time, I did not imagine it till I arrived in Gaza,” Faraj says.
“Greater than as soon as they instructed me I used to be launched. I celebrated and stated goodbye to my cellmates, solely to return to solitary confinement after days of torture.”
Faraj’s largest worry was whether or not his household was nonetheless alive, whereas his household had additionally misplaced hope that he would return alive.
“The day earlier than his launch, I had a nervous breakdown,” Zahwa says.
“Every single day I’d stroll to connect with the web and see who had been launched… I misplaced hope. However by God’s will he was launched.”
“I, his spouse and his youngsters screamed with pleasure…we wakened the entire camp. Everybody thought Faraj had been killed, however we instructed them he was alive and free.”
Faraj has misplaced 30 p.c of his physique weight however is attempting to return to his every day life (Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera)
After enduring the torment of uncertainty, Faraj gave up his determined want for relaxation and was capable of speak to kinfolk of different prisoners.
Whereas he was talking to Al Jazeera, kinfolk of lacking individuals referred to as and visited him, searching for details about their family members.
A customer got here to Faraj asking about his brother. He instructed him that his mom and different brothers had been killed in an Israeli bombing and that he urgently wanted information about his lacking brother.
Faraj acknowledged the person and tried to reassure him, however his face modified as he looked for phrases and ultimately burst into tears.
The person asks in panic, “Did they torture him? Did they amputate his limbs?”
Faraj tried to reassure him and stated that his brother was nice.
Later, Faraj says, “What can I inform him? That his brother misplaced his thoughts in jail and is now unconscious?”
There’s a second of deep silence.
Faraj softly recounts that prisoners entrusted him with messages instructing him to share their struggling with others.
“All I can say is that demise is one million instances extra merciful than jail.”
A Samouni brother returns dwelling to Gaza and recollects months of Israeli torture | Information concerning the Israeli-Palestinian battle
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