Washington DC – “Received confirmation.” This comes after Yasmeen Elaga's two cousins, both Palestinian-Americans, were detained by Israeli forces while evacuating near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. This was the only message I received from.
She is now calling on US President Joe Biden's administration to do more to ensure their safety and secure their release. Elaga said her two cousins, 18-year-old Borak Alaga and 20-year-old Hashem Alaga, are being held without charge.
“We begged the U.S. government,” explained Elaga, a law student at Northwestern University in Chicago. “The administration has completely failed in its responsibilities.”
Her family is one of several Palestinian-American families seeking protection in Israeli custody as the war in Gaza drags on. They gathered in Washington, D.C., for a press conference Monday to press for action.
From the podium, Elaga explained that she learned of her cousin's abduction on February 7 during a phone call with her aunt in Gaza. Her aunt tearfully described how Israeli soldiers invaded the al-Mowasi shelter near Khan Yunis and tied up women and children.
The men met a different fate. Elaga's aunt told how her two cousins, her father, uncle and two other male relatives were all taken away. Elaga's aunt said the soldiers ransacked the shelter and slashed the tires on the family's car. Since then, there has been no news from the man.
In the days since, Mr. Elaga has sent furious emails to the U.S. embassies in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Cairo, and to U.S. response forces in the Gaza Strip. She received only one reply from her confirming that the appeal had been accepted.
The wait for information was excruciating, she said. “It feels like a month has already passed because the minutes feel like hours.”
Allegation of trumped-up charges
Saliman Hamed, a Louisiana resident, shared a similar experience at an event hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
He said his Palestinian-American mother, Samahel Esmail, 46, was detained by Israel in the occupied West Bank last Monday and he has not been able to speak to her since.
He explained that he received only one phone call from an embassy official after her arrest. Although several days have passed, Hamed explained that her consular officials have yet to visit her, where she is being held in Haifa's Damon Prison.
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and again Monday. No one from the U.S. embassy ever visited or spoke to my mother, who is a U.S. citizen,” he said.
While waiting in prison, Hamed worries about his mother's health. Her attorney said she has not received any medication since her arrest.
“It's been seven days and she still hasn't received a single pill. As a result, her condition has deteriorated significantly,” Hamad said. “We have repeatedly asked the U.S. Embassy to send consular personnel to her mother so that we can receive updates on her mother's condition.”
His mother explained that he was arrested on charges of “incitement on social media.” Hamed and his brother Ibrahim fear they were targeted in retaliation for a lawsuit she filed against the Israeli military after she was allegedly beaten during a traffic stop in 2022.
Human rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of using trumped-up charges of “sedition” to repress Palestinians and stifle free speech.
But since the war began on October 7, the number of arrests across the occupied West Bank has skyrocketed. The Palestinian Prisoners of War Club, an advocacy group, had recorded 6,870 detentions as of last week.
“Israel is trying to use my mother as an example,” Hamed said. “They're trying to scare Palestinians and Palestinian Americans. If this happens to a Palestinian American woman, it could happen to you.”
Reports of beatings and humiliating treatment
Allegations of forced disappearances, ill-treatment and torture by Israeli forces have also been rife since the war began in Gaza on October 7.
In January, Addis Sungai, director-general of the United Nations human rights office in the occupied Palestinian territories, issued a report collecting testimonies from detainees who were “beaten, humiliated, and subjected to what may amount to ill-treatment and torture.” announced.
Sungei wrote that many were detained for between 35 and 55 days. His report and others caused anxiety among families of those detained.
“Everything we have learned, especially since October 7, when Palestinian men are in Israeli custody, we can only imagine the torture they are facing,” Elaga told her cousins. talked about.
Meanwhile, Hamed recalled that his mother's lawyer described bruises on his arms and back. He and his brother believe she was beaten by Israeli forces. Esmail's lawyer said he lost consciousness twice during interviews at the prison.
not following protocol
In response to questions about Americans detained overseas, the State Department said it is working to ensure their fair and humane treatment.
“As you know, there is no higher priority than the safety and security of our American citizens overseas,” Press Secretary Vedant Patel told reporters on February 8.
But immigration lawyer Maria Cali told Al Jazeera that the State Department's position is not good enough. She is working with the families of Borak and Hashem Alaga to file a lawsuit against the government.
He told Al Jazeera that the Biden administration does not appear to have followed proper procedures for situations where U.S. citizens are taken hostage or enforced disappearance by non-state or state actors.
“Israeli soldiers are being held here unjustly.” [the Alagha siblings] “All enforced disappearances are highly illegal and in direct violation of both U.S. domestic and international law,” she said.
She explained that such situations should “require immediate consular access.” She said, “The president is supposed to be engaged. The State Department is supposed to coordinate all these teams.”
“And nothing like that is happening here,” she added, “and that's scary.”
The State Department did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment on the incident.
Saliman and Ibrahim Hamed said they felt “devastated” after receiving no response. At a press conference on Monday, he called on the United States to reconsider its unwavering support for Israel amid mounting allegations of human rights abuses in Gaza and the West Bank.
The brothers hail from Gretna, Louisiana, a city already scarred by violence. They share the same hometown as Tawfik Ajak, a 17-year-old Palestinian American who was killed in a shooting incident involving an Israeli settler and an off-duty police officer in the occupied West Bank in January.
The Hamed brothers wondered if U.S. support for Israel was denying justice to the community.
“As tax-paying Americans, we are funding the incarceration not only of my mother, but of innocent people, especially Palestinians,” Ibrahim said.
“If we were white Christians or Israeli-Americans, would the embassy have responded faster?” Saliman added. “This is a question I've asked myself every day.”