On 26 October 2023 at 2:30 am. Moazzaz Obayat, a 39-year-old Palestinian bodybuilder arrested without charges, during a violent raid storming his house, in front of his 4 children and his pregant woman. He held under administrative detention, which allows detention without formal charges. He was detained in the Ofer Negev Prison.

On July 10, 2024, he is released showing signs of severe medical neglect and torture, revealing the inhumane conditions imposed on Palestinian prisoners by the Israeli occupation.

On October 16, 2024, three months after his released, he was re-abducted, at dawn, during a raid by the Israely soldiers in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, after storming his home.

He was obviously subject of sever abuses during his detention :

• Obayat, once weighing 109kg of muscle, lost over half his body weight and is now emaciated, unable to walk unaided.
• The video footage of Abayat’s frail state upon release has spread widely on Arab social media, but has seen little coverage in Western media.

Impact on his mental health

• The first days, Obayat no longer recognizes his father or the details of his past life.

• His wife, Noor, and mother collapsed upon seeing him leave jail in a broken state.

• he expressed the feeling of never being able to come back to life, of being mentally imprisoned for life.

His testimony shed significant light on the systematic abuse of detainees

• he reports being beaten, tortured, starved, and deprived of water throughout his imprisonment.

• his leg and his hans were broken in detention and left untreated.

• he describes being beaten while naked, losing consciousness after being hit with an iron bar.

• he describes his experience in the Negev prison as particularly harsh: freezing conditions, insufficient water, and minimal, poor-quality food.

• he states that prisoners were subjected to epidemics like scabies due to poor hygiene and limited showers.

• he recounts brutal physical abuse, including being hit and "search" in private parts with iron stick (in Ofer Prison)

• "We almost died," he says, in an iron caravan where he remembers inhaling gas and feeling a lack of oxygen (In Gush Etzion Detention center). A place where, he later describes, they beat them "with iron clubs until their heads, feet and hands were covered in blood.

• he was the witness of the murder of a friend (or a brother) Thayer Abu Asab, in prison for 18 years, since 2005, killed in "room 6", after being beaten during one hour with iron sticks on his head.(Israeli authorities confirmed was beaten to death by 19 guards on 18 November 2023) "He lay in the room for an hour, they killed him and they didn't call an ambulance or treat him."

• On December 4, during a violent interrogation, while sitting in a chair with his legs and arms chained behind his back, "I was given a beating that no human being can imagine." A Shin Bet (Israeli internal intelligence) officer asked him: "Are you with us or with them?", referring to Israel or Hamas."I answered honestly: 'I'm not on any side, I'm a civilian. You invaded my house and arrested me.' He didn't like what I said. He left the office and a group of three to five men came in and started beating me. They hit me with a metal baton on the head, stomach and sensitive areas of the body, on the tendons, until I lost consciousness ," he details.

• he adds, that, in Ofer Detention camp, access to food, hygiene or drinking water was also extremely limited : “One shower every three months,” “one litre of water for ten people in a room,” a bathroom “without running water.” As for electricity, only three hours a day, and a meal of “ten or twelve beans with a bit of cabbage” from breakfast to dinner.

• According to him, 2000 of the 3000 prisoners in Ofer Prison suffers od chronicle scabies.

Perpetrators

• He names "Captain Salem, head of Nablus area, Captain Dahari (nicknamed Abu Jameel), Captain Ibri for the Gush Etzion detention center.

• He names the Keter unit in Ofer Prison (the worst reputation detention center, like Guantanamo or Abu Graib), under the direction of Yusuf Khnafis (nicknamed Abu Shadi), who gave the torture orders.

The Prisoners Club Statement

Ramallah, 16-10-2024, WAFA- The Palestinian Prisoners' Club (PPC) held the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the life of detainee Moaz Ebayat (37 years) from Bethlehem, who was re-arrested at dawn today, three months after his release, in a difficult and shocking health condition due to the torture he was subjected to during his 9-month administrative detention. He was released at the time from the Negev prison, which was and still is the most prominent prison witnessing torture crimes.

According to the family of the detainee, Abayat, the occupation forces stormed his house at two in the morning, and when he was taken out of the house, he was beaten. (...)The Prisoners Club confirmed that Abayat is still** undergoing treatment since his release, and he needs continuous health follow-up.** He is one of thousands of detainees in the occupation prisons who are facing crimes of unprecedented level. It is worth noting that he is a former detainee who was arrested three times, and he is married and the father of five children. He did not suffer from any health problems before his previous arrest.

The Prisoners Club renewed its call to international human rights institutions to restore their necessary role for which they were created, and to put an end to the ongoing genocide and the horrific crimes to which our people are being subjected, including detainees in the occupation’s prisons and camps, which have been transformed into arenas for the crime of torture since the beginning of the war of extermination, “while reaffirming that everything we are witnessing today are fixed and systematic crimes practiced by the occupation over many decades, but the only variable is the intensity and level of these crimes.”

Broader Issue:

Over 3,500 Palestinians are currently held under administrative detention in Israeli prisons, many from the West Bank. Human rights groups and Palestinian organizations claim that the conditions Abayat faced are common among Palestinian detainees.

International Response:

• Israeli authorities deny the claims of abuse, stating that Obayat received medical care according to protocol.

• Human rights groups report restricted access to Israeli prisons, limiting information on prisoners' conditions.

• Obayat urges the international community to investigate Palestinian prison conditions and support his people, highlighting the lack of legal representation and international protection for detainees.

source 1 source 2 source 3

ONG investigation

In its August report, 'Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps', the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem collects the testimonies of 55 released prisoners and relatives of inmates who point out the mistreatment to which Palestinian prisoners are subjected.

(Archivist's clarification: the English spelling of Moazzaz Obayat's name varies enormously. Articles name him Moaz, Moiz, Muazzaz Moazzaz,.. and his surname is spelled Obayyat, Obayat, Obaiat, Abayat, Abayad.. We opted for the following spelling: Moazzaz Obayat).