Negev Prison is like ‘Guantanamo Bay’ – Israel Re-Detains Moaz Abayat

Despite his deteriorating health condition, Israel re-detained Moaz Khalil Abayat. (Photo: via social media)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“Negev Prison is like Guantanamo Bay. Everything is beyond what the mind can imagine.” – Muazzaz Abayat following his release in July.

Israeli forces have re-detained Moaz Khalil Abayat after storming his home in Bethlehem on Wednesday morning. Abayat was released in July after nearly nine months of detention and is in poor health.

Emaciated and limping, the amateur bodybuilder was barely recognizable as he hobbled out of prison on the day of his release.

Having endured daily beatings and abuse, he looked confused as his family and friends received him at the Negev (Naqab) prison’s gate.

“Since the moment of my arrest until today, I have been severely beaten,” Abayat, 37, said.

⭕ Zionist terrorists viciously re-abducted Moaz Obayyat at dawn today. After 9 months in their brutal prisons without trial and charge, he was released 3 months ago in critical health—and now they have mercilessly dragged him back! https://t.co/vUsGtnNlV8 pic.twitter.com/XL2j4RLyuF

— Palestine Captives 𓂆 (@Palestinecapti1) October 16, 2024

The Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) said that “Abayat was released from the Negev prison in a grave and shocking health condition,” adding that he “was subjected to a series of vicious assaults, including torture and starvation.”

The brutal assaults included “the breaking of all his limbs,” the PPS said, pointing out that Abayat, reported to be a former boxer and bodybuilder, did not suffer any health problems before his arrest.

‘Stabbed, Placed in Black Bag’

“I was stabbed on December 4. I was subjected to attempted murder in Ofer prison, and (Itamar) Ben-Gvir danced on my body,” he said in a video shared on social media, following his release.

“They announced my death on December 4, and I woke up to find myself in Al-Ramla Prison hospital. I didn’t receive any treatment, the situation is horribly bad.”

‘Like Guantanamo Bay’ – Released Detainee Speaks of Torture in Israeli Prison

He said the “Negev Prison is like Guantanamo Bay. Everything is beyond what the mind can imagine.”

In another video Abayat, staring ahead, asked: “Will they kill me? Will they kill me? Will they come and kill me?”

He also said in another: “They put me in a bag, in a black bag. I have been martyred.”

Unable to recognize his father, he asked: “Who are you?”

No Charge

Abayat was detained on October 26 last year and held under administrative detention which allows a detainee to be held without charge.

He reportedly weighed 109kg when he was detained and upon his release had lost more than half his body weight.

⭕ Captive Muazzaz Abayat from Bethlehem was released in a severely weakened state and unable to walk on his own after being illegally detained for several months by the occupying forces. pic.twitter.com/a7a1qIdYw3

— Palestine Captives 𓂆 (@Palestinecapti1) July 9, 2024

Abayat is the nephew of Hussein Abayat, one of the founders of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the southern West Bank, according to the PPS. Abayat was killed during the Second Intifada (uprising) in 2000.

Testimonies of Abuse

His case is not an isolated one, with scores of testimonies from released prisoners pointing to torture and abuse inside Israeli detention camps and prisons.

Testimonies of freed detainees reveal how prison authorities rapidly converted more than a dozen facilities into a network of torture camps. >> pic.twitter.com/HS8uoRcCey

— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) August 9, 2024

International, Palestinian and Israeli rights groups have documented these testimonies which include torture, sexual abuse, rape and starvation.

Since the start of the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people in October 2023, more than 11,300 Palestinians have been detained from the West Bank, including Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

(The Palestine Chronicle)