Israeli soldiers arrested Tamam Al-Aswad in December at a school in Gaza City where she was taking refuge, having breached the school’s walls with tanks before detaining her for weeks in Israel, where she claims she faced humiliation and mistreatment. Al-Aswad states that she was released yesterday, Thursday, at the Kerem Shalom crossing and was unable to contact her family, whom she last saw at the moment of her arrest. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment regarding Al-Aswad's detention and her allegations of mistreatment. Earlier, the Israeli army stated that it detains Palestinians in accordance with international law and that its protocols dictate treating prisoners with dignity.
According to Al-Aswad, two tanks entered the school, and she watched through a hole in the wall as the soldiers entered and blew up houses. Al-Aswad heard the voices of women from inside those homes. She described the situation as terrifying. Tamam is one of many Palestinians arrested by Israel during its ongoing four-month assault on Gaza, which has resulted in massive destruction throughout the small, densely populated enclave, displacing most residents from their homes. Palestinian health authorities report that nearly 28,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the war. Israel asserts that it aims to eliminate the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in response to the October 7 attack on Israeli border towns, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the capture of more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
Israel has taken control of large areas in northern and central Gaza, regions it urged civilians to evacuate early in the conflict, claiming to have killed about 10,000 Hamas militants, which the group denies. Al-Aswad recounted that on December 14, when Israeli forces entered the Omar Ibn Al-Aas school in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza, where she was at the time, they ordered men to line up and strip before taking the women to another side. The Israeli forces gathered the detainees in the nearby Al-Taqwa mosque. Al-Aswad said they asked her which faction she belonged to, and she informed them that she was just a housewife and had harmed no one. They told her, “You are a threat to Israel's security. You will be detained for five years.” Al-Aswad added that her hands were then shackled, her eyes were blindfolded, and she was placed on a bus with other detainees.
**Mistreatment**
Al-Aswad stated that the soldiers humiliated her and other detainees during the journey, ordering her to keep her head down. It was extremely uncomfortable, as they would hit her on the head, arm, or neck if she tried to raise her head. She noted that the same treatment was meted out to the rest of the female detainees on the bus. She explained that the first place they were held for several days was extremely cold. She added that her eyes were once again blindfolded, her hands shackled, and she was transferred to Damon prison in Haifa.
Israel has not disclosed the number of people it has detained during the military operation in Gaza. Human rights groups estimate the number to be in the thousands. According to Tamam, detainees were prohibited from lifting their heads or saying anything even if they were in pain. She also stated that the soldiers ordered her during her detention to approach a wall that had the Israeli flag on it. She recounted how a soldier asked her to kiss the flag. When she refused, he slammed her head against the wall and then hit her on the back, she said.
Reuters was unable to independently verify any of these allegations. The woman added that a soldier eventually told the detainees that all women from Gaza would return to their homes. Her return was indescribably joyous, yet incomplete. She is currently in Rafah in the south and believes that her husband and children are still in Gaza City, where the fiercest fighting has occurred. Tamam hopes to reunite with her family, saying, “God willing, we will be reunited.”
