Israel releases 114 Palestinians, including 4 women

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Israeli authorities on Thursday released 114 Palestinians, including four women, who were detained by the Israeli army during their recent offensive on the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian official with the Gaza crossing authorities told an Anadolu reporter that the Palestinians were released through the Karm Abu Salem commercial crossing, also known as the Kerem Shalom crossing, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Anadolu reporter said 10 of the released people, including a woman, were transferred to a hospital in Rafah city due to health conditions.

They suffered severe bone fractures, particularly in their hands and legs, as an apparent result of being beaten in custody by Israeli forces, a medical source told Anadolu.

Some had blood clots on their necks and heads, while others suffered difficulty in breathing, wounds and scratches, and swelling in their hands, said the Anadolu reporter on the scene when they arrived at the hospital.

The Israeli army arrested hundreds of Palestinians during the ground offensive against Gaza that began on Oct. 27. However, Israeli authorities continue to refuse to provide information on the whereabouts or conditions of those arrested in Gaza.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing at least 27,019 Palestinians and injuring 66,139. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara