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16 Detainees Released
Israeli forces released 16 Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, transferring them through the Kerem Shalom crossing before the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) took them to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah for medical examinations and treatment.
Palestine Chronicle Staff listed the released detainees by name and age, including Ahmed Kamel Abdel-Habeel (47) and Mohammad Salman Al-Masri (63), and said the ICRC confirmed it facilitated the release and transfer to the hospital.
WAFA said the 16 freed prisoners arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where they were immediately transferred for medical examinations and to assess their health conditions.
Middle East Monitor reported the 16 were released through the Kerem Shalom, or Karem Abu Salem, border crossing and transferred by ICRC teams to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah for medical checks.
Rights Groups Decry Conditions
Palestine Chronicle Staff said rights organizations warned that thousands of Palestinians remain imprisoned under conditions marked by torture, enforced disappearance, and medical neglect, while also saying the detainees were all arrested after October 7, 2023.
Middle East Monitor said Palestinian and international human rights organizations say Israel has refused to provide information about the fate of many Palestinians detained from Gaza and has denied them access to lawyers and family members.
Anadolu Ajansı reported that Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) called for an independent medical examination of detained Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya after an assault by Israeli prison guards.
Anadolu Ajansı quoted PHRI saying Abu Safiya told his lawyer Nasser Odeh that he had again been beaten by prison guards, injuring one of his fingers and causing bleeding.
Numbers and What’s at Risk
Middle East Monitor said more than 9,600 Palestinians, including 350 children and 73 women, are currently held in Israeli prisons and face torture, starvation and medical neglect, and it added that since the start of Israel’s genocide on Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, nearly 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 173,000 injured.
Palestine Chronicle Staff said organizations accuse Israel of forcibly disappearing many Gaza detainees by withholding information about their whereabouts and conditions of detention, and it said dozens of Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons and military camps as a result of torture, medical neglect, starvation, and harsh detention conditions.
Anadolu Ajansı said PHRI is pursuing a petition seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza, including Abu Safiya, who are being held by Israel without charge or trial.
Anadolu Ajansı reported that the Israeli government asked the court to dismiss the petition without holding a hearing, while the court instructed the petitioners to respond to the state's argument by July 19, with no hearing yet scheduled.
