According to reports from Israeli media, a Palestinian man who was detained by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem has claimed that he was subjected to physical abuse. He stated that officers brutally beat him and marked his cheek with the Star of David symbol.
The individual's lawyer presented these allegations in a Jerusalem district court on Thursday, a day after he was apprehended from his residence in the Shuafat refugee camp. The arrest reportedly involved around 16 officers, none of whom had their body cameras activated, as per the Ynet news website.
The man was blindfolded by the officers and subjected to physical assault with punches all over his body, as reported by Ynet. Subsequently, his cheek was marked with the Star of David symbol.
Wadim Shub, the man's legal representative, released a statement denouncing the incident as a "grave case of intentional violence and humiliation" and called for an immediate police investigation. Shub emphasized the need to address the issue of police brutality and expressed concerns that the injuries might have been racially motivated.
The presiding judge, Amir Shaked, reportedly expressed shock at the incident and directed the case to the police's internal investigations department. The police department's version of events stated that the man had resisted arrest and had attacked the officers, prompting a "reasonable force" response.
The man was detained based on allegations of involvement in "drug trafficking offences."
Efforts to contact the Palestinian Prisoners' Club for comment yielded no response at the time of publication.
As of now, Israel holds over 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners, with around 1,200 of them under administrative detention without charge or trial, a practice widely criticized. Israeli forces frequently conduct early morning raids in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to suppress growing armed resistance.
This situation often leads to confrontations with Palestinian residents, resulting in arrests and even deaths.
In the occupied Palestinian territories, over 200 Palestinians have been killed this year. The United Nations has cautioned that 2023 might become the deadliest year for Palestinians in terms of recorded fatalities.
Israel has faced longstanding accusations from Palestinians and human rights organizations of killing Palestinians under questionable circumstances. They criticize the country for inadequately prosecuting and penalizing its forces for wrongdoing. Investigations often conclude without charges or with lenient sentences, and witnesses are sometimes not even questioned.
In a recent case, an Israeli court acquitted a border police officer who had been charged with reckless manslaughter in the shooting death of Eyad al-Hallaq, an autistic Palestinian man, three years prior in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City. The court ruled that the officer acted in self-defense.