Hassan Salama Subjected to Systematic Torture in Megiddo Prison
Palestinian prisoner Hassan Salama is being subjected to repeated beatings, starvation, and medical neglect in Israeli solitary confinement.
The Prisoners’ Media Office of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas has reported that Palestinian prisoner Hassan Salama is being subjected to systematic torture and inhumane treatment inside solitary confinement at Israel’s Megiddo Prison.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, the office said Salama has endured six physical assaults over the past two months and is being deliberately starved, resulting in severe weight loss—his body weight has dropped to 62 kilograms.
He also suffers from serious health conditions, including tooth loss and significant visual impairment, and has been denied access to eyeglasses.
Salama, a Palestinian military commander born in Khan Yunis in 1971, played a role in the First Intifada and later became a leading figure in the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing.
He is serving 48 life sentences and was excluded from the 2011 prisoner exchange agreement.
Systematic Torture: Barghouti Faces ‘Slow Assassination’ in Israeli Prison
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Earlier on Wednesday, the Palestinian Prisoners Information Office issued a statement Tuesday evening expressing grave concern over the brutal treatment of imprisoned Palestinian leader Abdullah al-Barghouti inside Israel’s Gilboa Prison.
According to the statement, Barghouti is the target of what it described as a “systematic assassination attempt,” as his health continues to deteriorate to life-threatening levels.
Verified accounts from within Israeli prisons indicate that al-Barghouti has endured repeated physical assaults.
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His body is reportedly covered in bruises, his head swollen with blood clots, his eyes severely inflamed, and his ribs fractured—leaving him unable to sleep due to extreme pain.
The statement notes that repression units, led by an officer identified as ‘Amir’, have been conducting coordinated raids on Barghouti’s cell. During these raids, he is subjected to brutal beatings that cause extensive bleeding—reportedly up to half a liter each time.
The Office described Barghouti’s treatment as a “deliberate slow assassination” and a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions. It warned that such tactics to eliminate key figures in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement are bound to ignite public outrage and mass mobilization.
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Systematic Torture
The report comes amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, which has been accompanied by escalating abuses against Palestinian detainees. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, prisoners have faced beatings, torture, humiliation, and food deprivation, leading to the deaths of at least 65 detainees since the war began.
As of April 2025, over 9,900 Palestinians remain incarcerated in Israeli prisons, including around 400 children and 27 women.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel—with backing from the United States—has waged a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, resulting in over 170,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, the majority of them women and children. More than 11,000 people remain missing.
(PC, AJA)