By Wallace Mawire/Zimbabwe/Harare
The Embassy of the State of Palestine in Zimbabwe has strongly condemned the egregious and inhumane actions of the Israeli government, which has adopted torture as a policy, particularly in its treatment of Palestinian civilians, including children.
In a chilling escalation of cruelty, Israeli soldiers subjected a 1 year old child Karim Abu Nassar from Al-Maghazi refugee camp central Gaza to 10 hours of torture by extinguishing cigarettes on his small legs, pricking his skin, and inserting a metal nail into his leg in an attempt to coerce a confession from his father is a shocking and disturbing revelation that highlights the depths of cruelty to which the Israeli authorities are willing to sink.
The Embassy said the heinous act, which occurred in front of the child’s father during an interrogation, demonstrates the extent to which the Israeli government is willing to exploit and harm even the most vulnerable members of society, including young children, in pursuit of its objectives.
They said after 10 hours of the barbaric treatment, the infant was released through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Al-Maghazi, while his father remains in Israeli detention. The Embassy said the incident is not an isolated incident of excessive zeal but a calculated tool of psychological and physical warfare used to shatter the spirit of Palestinian families.
Ambassador Tamer Almassri noted with grave concern that since October 2023, torture has effectively become a cornerstone of the Israeli occupation’s strategy, as they are witnessing a torturous culture that is socially produced, politically defended, and publicly normalised within the Israeli system.
He said no child, anywhere in the world, should be subjected to such cruelty.
The Ambassador said the actions constitute a total collapse of human decency and a flagrant violation of every international law designed to protect the vulnerable.
He said currently, approximately 350 Palestinian children are languishing in Israeli detention centres, many held without trial or charge. He said the children are being stripped of their youth and subjected to an unlawful system of structural domination and oppression that denies them their fundamental right to self-determination.
The state of Palestine has emphasised that the ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people are part of an unlawful system of domination and oppression that denies the Palestinian people their right to self-determination. The Ambassador said the crimes, which include widespread arbitrary arrests, systematic torture, land confiscation, demolition of homes and facilities, forced displacement, and escalating settler violence under the protection of occupation forces, all occur in the absence of accountability and amid a prevailing culture of impunity.
The state of Palestine has called on the international community to fulfil its responsibilities by providing immediate protection to the Palestinian people and to take concrete measures to end the crimes of the Israeli occupation. The Embassy said this includes enforcing respect for international law and ensuring accountability to prevent impunity.
They said the international community must also take immediate action to release all prisoners and to confront these documented violations in legal and diplomatic forums.
They added that it is only through such collective action that they can hope to bring an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people and to ensure that their rights and dignity are respected and protected.
