There is a double standard and lack of context in this passage. While it is mentioned that 20 Israeli hostages were released as part of phase one of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, it fails to mention that the same agreement included the release of around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli prisons.
To the Toronto Star and Canadian Press newsrooms,
I am writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East regarding your article titled: “PM Carney makes last-minute trip to Egypt summit for Trump’s Gaza peace plan.”
The article states that “Hamas is expected to release roughly 20 living hostages as early as Monday morning, in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Hamas would then release the bodies of about 28 dead Israeli hostages.”
There is a double standard and lack of context in this passage. While it is mentioned that 20 Israeli hostages were released as part of phase one of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, it fails to mention that the same agreement included the release of around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli prisons.
Even more troubling is the omission of the grave human rights abuses that Palestinians are subjected to in Israeli prisons: conditions that amount to systematic torture, psychological terror, and dehumanization. Detainees are routinely beaten, denied medical and hygienic care, and held in solitary confinement. One recently released Palestinian detainee testified:
“They allowed us to go to the bathroom once every two months. We used to urinate in our clothes, and we only had the clothes we were wearing. They gave us a vest every six months, and every single day they tortured us physically in every possible way. They put us in solitary cells measuring half a square meter in area and one and a half meters in height, leaving us there for weeks.”
Your reporting also fails to mention the critical context of administrative detention, an Israeli policy that authorizes the imprisonment of Palestinians without charge or trial, for renewable six-month periods, based solely on secret evidence withheld from both the Palestinian detainee and their lawyer. The Israeli government claims this policy is used only when there is solid evidence that an individual poses a threat to state security or civilian lives, whether they are Arab or Jewish. In practice, however, the law’s vague wording has enabled Israeli authorities to imprison Palestinians as prisoners of conscience.
This means that many Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are not convicted criminals in the usual sense but are detainees, imprisoned without charge or trial for months and years without ever knowing the accusations against them or having the chance to contest their detention in a fair trial.
In the name of accurate and fair reporting, we urge your newsroom to include:
- The number of Palestinian detainees released under the deal (around 2,000)
- The torture and abuse Palestinians endure in Israeli prisons
- The context of administrative detention and its unlawful use against Palestinians
Lynn Naji
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East