NABLUS – The family of Palestinian prisoner Abd al-Rahman al-Bahsh was unable to hold back their emotions upon hearing the news of his martyrdom inside Israeli occupation jails. His mother's health immediately deteriorated upon hearing the news; she was transferred to the hospital unconscious, while a shroud of sorrow and oppression enveloped the rest of the family, particularly his father who had been anticipating his release with impatience after being denied visits for security reasons.
Late on Monday evening, initial information leaked from Megiddo, an Israeli prison to the north, of a prisoner's martyrdom. As details emerged and the news spread, it was confirmed that the martyr hailed from the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, was 23 years old, had been detained for 18 months, and was sentenced to a 35-month prison term. The family's worst fears were confirmed and their anguish deepened.
Prisoner organizations, particularly the Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, quickly disseminated the news, stating that al-Bahsh is the first martyr among the prisoners in 2024 and the seventh since the war on Gaza on October 7th.
The family described the incident with al-Bahsh as an "assassination crime," a result of systematic torture aimed at killing prisoners, especially in Megiddo prison, where three prisoners have died since the war on Gaza.
Abd al-Rahman was born into a modest family of five children, plus his parents, in "al-Faqous," a neighborhood in the old town of Nablus, where he was raised and educated in the city's schools, finishing his high school education. He went straight into the labor market without pursuing university studies, working in the clothing trade and other freelance activities.
Abd al-Rahman led a normal life before his detention by the occupation at Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus in late May 2022, after which he went through lengthy interrogation and trial sessions, resulting in a 35-month prison sentence with a monetary fine.
Tragic Sorrow
Bassam al-Bahsh, the prisoner's father, spoke to Al Jazeera Net with a mix of sadness and powerlessness while receiving condolences, describing the event as "a painful catastrophe." He accused the occupation of deliberately escalating its aggression and maltreatment of the prisoners, including his son. "I accuse the occupation of killing him," said Bassam, who expressed his outrage towards international institutions, especially the Red Cross, which he said had failed to provide any information about his son since the war and had not visited them to see their suffering, thus providing "international cover for the occupation to oppress and murder the prisoners with premeditation."
Adding to the father’s grief is the fact that all his family's attempts, through what he calls "so-called humanitarian and rights institutions," to reach any information about his son's imprisonment conditions throughout the war were unsuccessful. They were also barred from visiting him due to "security refusal" used by the occupation as a pretext. The father is now demanding the return of his son's body to bury it near his martyred comrades, urging the Red Cross to take responsibility and pressure the occupation for the release of the bodies.
Dashed Dreams
In the old town of Nablus's al-Qasabah neighborhood, where Abd al-Rahman's mourning house was set up, his cousin Abdullah al-Bahsh couldn't believe what happened. Observing the youth and the martyr's friends hanging his pictures on the walls, Abdullah said Abd al-Rahman was in good health, confirmed by his brother-in-law who visited him before the war on Gaza, reinforcing the family's belief that he "faced a clear assault that led to his murder."
Abdullah, also a childhood friend, finds it hard to believe that his cousin is now a martyr. His mother, he says, had prepared a room for her martyred son in their new house, decorated it with his pictures, and eagerly awaited his release. She was also preparing for his brother's wedding celebration, only for the occupation to sour their joy by killing Abd al-Rahman and retaining his body, as their dreams are always truncated.
Repressive Measures
With the onset of the war on Gaza and Israel's declaration of a state of emergency, the Israeli prison authorities embarked on repressive measures against the prisoners, depriving them of sleep, food, drink, bathing, confiscating their possessions, including electrical appliances, isolating them in solitary confinement, doubling their numbers, cutting off their external communication and contact with lawyers, preventing visits, and assaulting them with weapons and police dogs. This brutal treatment has resulted in the martyrdom of seven prisoners to date.
The Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club stated, "What the occupation is doing against the prisoners confirms they are proceeding with their actions without restraint." Evidence gathered from released prisoners, lawyers, and human rights institutions confirms that torture and brutal beating by special suppression units and others from the occupation army were the direct cause of their deaths.
This follows calls by Israeli officials to enact a death penalty law for Palestinian prisoners and their inventiveness in torturing the prisoners. Qadura Fares, the minister of the Prisoners’ Affairs and Ex-Prisoners, interpreted this as Israel declaring a "vengeful war" on the prisoners since the Gaza war, "They don’t need laws for executions, for they are systematically carrying them out."
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Fares says this can be deduced from the number of martyred prisoners, those killed by the occupation during their arrest, implying "the biggest shock" will be "revealing those martyred from Gaza’s prisoners." When asked if Israel would resort to mass executions of prisoners, Fares mentioned that prisoners, especially at the beginning of the war, were provoked and lured into situations that could justify "the occupation conducting mass killing operations against them."
