The
mother of Kamel Ghabayen, a Palestinian who was detained by Israel and
is said to have been killed in an Israeli strike upon his release,
reacts at Nasser hospital, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan
Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 7, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem
Khaled/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Three Gazans found dead after release from Israeli custody, relative and witness say
GAZA,
July 8 (Reuters) - The handcuffed bodies of three Palestinian men freed
from Israeli custody have been found near Gaza's border with Israel,
and an uncle of one of them and a witness said they had been attacked by
Israeli forces shortly after their release.
Abdel
Hadi Ghabayen, an uncle of one of the detainees, Kamel Ghabayen, said
he set out at 5 a.m. on Sunday looking for his nephew following his
arrest by Israeli forces on Saturday.
"I
found him left on the ground along with the other two martyrs. They
were without clothes, and their hands had plastic cuffs put on them by
the Israeli army," Ghabayen said.
The
bodies were found near the Israeli border fence on Sunday in the
vicinity of the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern
Gaza, he said.
Reuters
could not independently confirm what happened to the three men or the
reason for their arrest. In response to Reuters requests for comment,
the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said: "From a review conducted the IDF
is unfamiliar with an incident in which the suspects were killed by IDF
fire."
Abdel
Hadi Ghabayen said one of the men had lost a leg and his body was "in
pieces" after what he said was an attack by Israeli forces carried out
shortly after their release.
Abdel
Hadi Ghabayen said that when he tried to recover the man's dismembered
leg the Israelis "started shooting at me, so I stopped." He later
carried the bodies of the three on his truck to Nasser Hospital in the
southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The
three -- Kamel Ghabayen, Mohammed Awad Ramadan Abu Hejazi and Ramadan
Awad Ramadan Aby Hejaz -- were among several Palestinians detained on
Saturday and held for questioning, according to one of the men, Mahmoud
Abu Taha.
Abu Taha said they came under fire shortly after their release.
"We
reached Karkar Street (in Gaza). After 10 minutes of being there, we
found a bomb thrown at the people with me. Thank God I was at the front.
The bomb hit 6 or 7 people who were detained with us. Thank God I am
alive," he said.
The
war began on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza,
attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250
hostages, according to Israeli figures. More than 38,000 Palestinians
have been killed in the Israeli military offensive since then, according
to Gaza health officials.
Reporting by Hatem Khaled; Writing by Michael Georgy; editing by William Maclean Miral Fahmy