Israeli forces release 20 Palestinian men detained from north Gaza

Twenty Palestinian men have reportedly been released after being detained by Israeli forces in their assault on northern Gaza.

The released Palestinians arrived to Khan Younis’ European Hospital for medical checks following their release via the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, located at the Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian media said on Saturday.

The men showed signs of exhaustion, according to the Turkish Anadolu agency, which added that the prisoners arrived on a bus belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the war-torn Gaza Strip.

The men's identities and length of detention were not disclosed.

Israel's renewed onslaught on northern Gaza has been described as a campaign of ethnic cleansing to expel Palestinians from the area under a scheme known as the 'General's Plan'. The plan, forwarded by a group of Israeli reservists, aims to push Palestinians southward and consider all those remaining in the north as combatants.

The area has also been deprived of water, food and other basic necessities, prompting fears of a looming famine.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed during the offensive, increasing the daily death toll in Gaza significantly.

Amid the war in Gaza, Israeli forces have abducted scores of Palestinians, subjecting them to prolonged periods of detention, torture, humiliation, sexual abuse and even death.

There are no official numbers of those detained from the Gaza Strip, however, though rights groups estimate that the number is in the thousands.

In December, the Gaza bureau chief of The New Arab's Arabic-language site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, was detained by Israeli forces and held for weeks.

Diaa al-Kahlout was forcibly detained from his home in Beit Lahia at gunpoint, stripped to his underwear and tortured in detention by Israeli forces.

Israel's military has also detained Palestinian men, women and children in the West Bank in parallel with the war in Gaza. According to the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, over 11,600 Palestinians have been detained in the occupied territory and East Jerusalem since October last year.