By Staff, Agencies

The former Palestinian detainee Mohammed Abu Tawila said that “Israeli” jailers poured acid and other chemicals on his body during an interrogation while he was in their custody.

Tawila, who was kidnapped from Gaza during the "Israeli" invasion launched in October 2023, was subjected to severe beatings, which included targeting his eye.

There he was tortured with chemical substances, including acid, chlorine, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, soap and air fresheners.

"They were ignited on my body for three days," the former detainee said.

Marks of the torture he describes can be seen on his back, arms and face in the local news reports.

"My eye was included [in the torture]. One of them would keep punching me in the eye, while wearing gloves with something tough, that resembled bone," he says, adding that he later collapsed on the rubble from the beating.

Abu Tawila explained that the acid and other chemicals reacted with his injured eye.

One soldier then blindfolded him, tying the cloth tightly, which caused the chemicals to continue reacting around the affected area.

The former detainee declared, "Of course, there was also torture in the occupied territories, from beatings, to insults and humiliation, not to mention hunger and sitting in the cold."

He added that he was not provided with clothes or blankets during this detention by the military, which lasted around a month and a half before he was transferred to al-Ramla hospital.

He remained in the hospital for around two to three weeks before his transfer to the notorious "Ofer" military prison.

Moreover, "Israel" have previously been accused of torturing Palestinians, including at "Ofer", according to testimonies from current and former detainees.

This includes being handcuffed and shackled 24 hours a day, seven days a week - even while sleeping, eating and using the restroom.

Testimonies also describe regular beatings by guards, extreme overcrowding, humiliation and inadequate hygiene, with one account alleging a beating resulting in death.

"They [‘Israeli’ prison guards] would release dogs on us, storm in and beat us inside, tie our hands and take us outside to the prison yards. They would also kick us, causing our faces to swell and bleed," Abu Tawila recounted.

"And they wouldn't treat those injured. Instead, they would just tell us things like, 'It will heal on its own.'"

Torture was recorded in civilian and military detention facilities across “Israel”, resulting in the deaths of at least 59 known victims since 7 October 2023.

Among them are at least 38 detainees from Gaza, the highest number in history, making this the "bloodiest stage in the history of the detainee movement," according to a joint statement by the Prisoners' Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society on Monday.