RAFAH, Palestinian Territories, Feb  1, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Gazans released
from Israeli detention on Thursday displayed injuries at a hospital in Rafah
and told AFP they had been abused by their jailers.

Israeli soldiers have rounded up scores of Gazans during their months-long
ground offensive in the territory, holding them without charge before releasing
some in groups.

Asked about the allegations, the Israeli military told AFP it had detained
"individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity" and that they were
treated "in accordance with international law".

Khaled al-Nabrisse, a resident of the southern Khan Yunis area, was among
those freed Thursday.

Wearing a neck brace, he claimed in comments to AFP that Palestinians had
been "tortured relentlessly".

"During the first 72 hours, drinking, eating or going to the toilets was
banned, and we were handcuffed and blindfolded for those seven days" in
detention, the 48-year-old said.

"The situation was really tough and we suffered torture like we never saw
before" including the use of dogs to threaten them, said Nabrisse.

The Gaza crossings authority said 114 detainees, including four women, were
sent through Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing on Thursday.

The Hamas-run territory's health ministry said the group included Mohammed
al-Ran, head of the surgery department at the Indonesian hospital in northern
Gaza.

Ran was taken by soldiers who stormed the hospital two months ago, a health
ministry statement said.

At Najjar hospital in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, AFP journalists
saw multiple freed Gazans with their wrists and feet bandaged.

Abu Khamis, from the central Bureij refugee camp, told AFP of what he said
was "torture, hits and insults" while in detention.

"As you see, these (wounds) happened in prison. My hands were hurt and are
going to be treated," said the 50-year-old, a blanket around his shoulders.

Nearby, a man lying on a trolley bed struggled to lift his head, a black
zip tie around one of his wrists.

Similarly to Gazans released previously from Israeli detention, they showed
wounds on their wrists while one man had cuts on his head.

The United Nations human rights representative in the Palestinian
territories told reporters last month of the "horrific" conditions faced by
Gaza detainees.

Ajith Sunghay said "thousands" of Gazans have been detained by Israeli
forces since the war erupted on October 7 and are held in unknown locations.