Israeli forces shave Star of David on Palestinian abductees head ahead of release

Palestinian abductee Musab Qatawi was released on Thursday after three years in Israeli detention.

The Israeli regime released Qatawi alongside Ahmad Manasra, another Palestinian abductee who spent a decade behind bars after being arrested at the age of 13 and suffered similar treatment before his release.

“The moment we were to be released, they brought a rubbish bin, held our heads and put them in while they beat us. [A guard] drew the Star of David on my head,” Qatawi was quoted as saying by media.

Qatawi was being held at the Nafha Prison, where he says he and his cellmates were beaten daily by guards.

“We were severely beaten,” he said. “They insulted us a lot, stepped on us, used dogs against us. It was very hard.”

Qatawi also described a “lack of food, lack of hygiene, diseases”, among other issues.

The Israeli prison guards have been repeatedly using the Star of David, a religious Jewish symbol featured on the regime’s flag, to torture Palestinians.

Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, conditions for Palestinian abductees in Israeli jails have severely worsened.

Israeli prisons are notorious for the mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners. United Nations agencies, investigators, and human rights organizations have documented hundreds of cases of arbitrary arrests, inhumane and degrading treatment, torture, and deaths of Palestinians in Israeli custody.