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Ever since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza. Many who have since been released have shared accounts of their experiences. NPR's Daniel Estrin has the story of a radiologist from Gaza who was detained in Israel for seven months. We should warn you, this report contains descriptions of violence.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Before the war, 53-year-old radiologist Dr. Amer Nassar treated patients in Gaza hospitals. Now he is a hospital patient in Gaza. NPR's producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, met him in the hospital a few days after his release from Israeli detention.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: That man that I saw him in the pictures with a very rounded face - to suddenly see in front of me a doctor - that he lost nearly half of his body weight, breathing heavily, and most of the time, he sit in the corner on his knees.
ESTRIN: He's very thin and struggles to walk.
AMER NASSAR: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: Nassar says he was sheltering with his family in a United Nations school in December when Israeli troops rounded him up with other men and told them...
NASSAR: This is the last moment for you in Gaza. You will go to hell.
ESTRIN: Hell, he said. For Israelis, the trauma of October 7 was fresh. This was just two months after Hamas carried out the deadliest attack on Israel in its history and captured hundreds of hostages. Nassar says he was handcuffed, marched a long distance and trucked across the border to Israel. He says his eyeglasses were taken away from him and never returned. And he says he was beaten many times.
NASSAR: (Through interpreter) Every soldier grabs and beats you - beats you on your head, on your back, on your stomach, on your groin. On your chest you are beaten.
ESTRIN: Nassar's account of his detention is similar to what other released detainees have described to the United Nations and what some Israelis who have worked with Gaza detainees have described. Nassar spent his first month in a desert detention center called Sde Teiman.
NASSAR: (Through interpreter) I was in the barracks for that month, blindfolded, with my hands tied, sitting on my knees on a 1-centimeter-thick sponge mattress with concrete or asphalt underneath. You stay seated from 5 in the morning until 11 at night.
ESTRIN: Nassar says he was brought before an interrogator multiple times.
NASSAR: (Through interpreter) He wanted me to confess immediately that I am Hamas, but I am not Hamas. Then the interrogator hit me, and he moved to another question about the Israeli captives. I told him, I know nothing about it. I am against these actions, honestly. Why should a mother be deprived of her son, whether on the Palestinian side or the Israeli side? Why can't we live in peace? Why doesn't the cycle of violence end?
ESTRIN: After a month in the detention center, Nassar spent six months in a desert prison. He says he was kept incommunicado with the outside world, living in tents with about 150 other Palestinian detainees. In his interview with NPR, he referred to the American psychologist Abraham Maslow and his famous hierarchy of needs.
NASSAR: (Through interpreter) In the pyramid of human needs - Maslow's pyramid - there are basic necessities in human life - food, drink, clothing, shelter, freedom and freedom of worship - simple matters. We were being fought in every aspect of them. Praying is prohibited. We were allowed one hour a day when we could leave the tents. And during this hour, there would be cold water. There were 150 people. Is one hour enough for them to shower? I could only shower maybe once a week.
Going to the toilet is a significant struggle. Imagine 150 people need to take turns all day to use two toilets. Imagine waiting five hours till you get your turn for the bathroom. It's unfathomable. Seven whole months, I was wearing the same pants and shirt - seven months. Imagine the extent of filth on these clothes.
ESTRIN: Nassar says he developed a skin condition and lost about 88 pounds due to insufficient food. He says he didn't get medical treatment, even after appealing to an Israeli doctor on duty as a colleague.
NASSAR: I'm in medical field 25 years. Please help me. I need a doctor. I need a medicine. He said, go out. You are animal. You are dog. You are donkey.
ESTRIN: Nassar says he was handcuffed and leg-cuffed and seated before a computer screen for a court hearing by video conference.
NASSAR: (Through interpreter) The judge asked if I had a lawyer. From where? - I told him. I couldn't even communicate with anyone. The judge told me that my detention had been extended based on terrorist activities and affiliation with a terrorist organization. The whole court session lasted no more than three minutes.
ESTRIN: In a statement, the Israeli military said Nassar was a Hamas operative in the past, which Nassar denies. It says he was detained for suspected terrorism but released after being cleared of those suspicions. The Israeli military says conditions for detainees are adequate, from three meals a day to clothing to hygiene. Israel's prison services said it was unaware of Nassar's claims of mistreatment and, quote, "as far as we know, no such events have occurred."
But similar claims have been brought before the Israeli Supreme Court. One case has prompted Israel to reduce the detainee population at the facility where Nassar spent his first month of detention. Another court case brought by Israeli human rights groups alleges starvation of thousands of Palestinian detainees, many of whom have experienced severe weight loss like Nassar.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has boasted about reducing prisoners' caloric intake to a minimum. He says it deters potential assailants from committing terrorism. When Nassar, the radiologist, was finally released this month, he says he was beaten, blindfolded and put onto a bus back to Gaza with other detainees.
NASSAR: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: And that, he says, is when he was given an apple for the first time after seven months of detention.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv, with Anas Baba in Gaza.
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