top
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Inside Israel’s torture camps

by SKWAWKBOX (SW)
Testimonies from prisoners and lawyers gives glimpse into horrific reality for thousands of Palestinians held hostage by Israel
New testimonies from Palestinian hostages
𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙋𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨

A new series of testimonies from Palestinian prisoners held, without trial, in so-called ‘detention’ camps and from lawyers who entered the camps, has given the merest glimpse of Israel’s horrific treatment of the almost ten thousand Palestinian civilians held hostage – a stark contrast with the humane treatment reported by Israelis released from Gaza.

The details have been released by the Palestinian Prisoners and E-Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners Society, and published by the Humanti Project with a call for readers to email their MPs so that even if the MPs refuse to act, the chain of written evidence is available for future trials for complicity in war crimes. Where possible, the extracted text of each image is included in the captions for visually-impaired readers using text-to-speech software:

The Palestinian Prisoners and ExPrisoners Affairs Commission & the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society have released a series of testimonies from Gaza detainees held in Israel’s Nagab and Nafha prisons. The accounts reveal widespread abuse, including torture, medical neglect, starvation, and severe trauma at the hands of Israeli occupation forces.

Israel has no legal jurisdiction over Gaza or the West Bank. They are an occupying power. When individuals are taken as ‘prisoners,’ they are actually hostages. The following words are those of the people taken hostage. These testimonies have not been altered, though some names have been removed for safety reasons. Others retain their names and locations.

“I was severely beaten to extract confessions, leaving me with fractures. After 58 days in a camp in the Gaza perimeter, I was transferred to Naqab Prison, where they- burned me with hot water. The burn marks are still visible on my body.” 45-year-old K.N., detained in December 2023

“The first days of my detention were horrifying. I was subjected to brutal torture, including a full day of beating, followed by being doused with sewage and urinated on by the soldiers. Then we were transferred to another camp for 27 days, where we were kept kneeling, blindfolded, with hands and feet shackled. We live in constant suffering and torment.” 21-year-old M.H.

The lawyer who visited this prisoner noted that M. H. was wearing a torn summer garment and was shivering from the cold, while suffering from scabies covering his body.

Israel’s systematic torture and humiliation of Palestinians is not new; it has persisted for decades, On 5 August 2024, a report by the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights, B’Tselem, in the Occupied Territories titled ‘Welcome to Hell’ documented the widespread torture and abuse of Palestinians taken hostage across Gaza and the West Bank.

“I was put in a pit in the ground. When I was in it, with all the other detainees, the soldiers ordered me to take off my hijab. One of them told me:

‘I killed your husband and l want to bury you alive. Let the dogs eat you.’ About half an hour later, they took us out of the pit and put us on a truck.

There were men inside who were right up against me. At that point, I thought my husband had been killed. After I was released, I saw a photo they took of us in the truck. I’m in that photo.” Hadil a-Dahduh Zaza, 24, held in Damun.

“I was detained in February 2024, during the evacuation process, and taken to several camps before reaching Naqab. I have developed boils, sores, and holes all over my body due to scabies – I go to bed hungry and wake up hungry. I also suffer from high eye pressure, and my left eye is in serious danger.” 21-year-old A.H.

“I was detained from a school and subjected to physical abuse, nakedness, and field interrogation. I was later transferred to various camps before reaching Naqab. Today, most of the prisoners are suffering from extreme fatigue and weight loss. Many faint due to the severe conditions. The hunger, diseases, and cold are unbearable.” 25-year-old M.A.

“I was subjected to ‘all forms of torture and abuse’ since my detention in Sheikh Zayed city in March 2024. I saw death a thousand times.” He recounted being subjected to physical abuse and forced into signing a fabricated confession. “Today, the situation in Naqab prison is very difficult and tragic, because of the continued spread of scabies, and most of the prisoners suffer from sores and boils, and cannot sleep because of severe itching.” M.R.

“Death is more merciful than what we are living in prison. Even today, despite the arrival of winter, the prisoners are still wearing their summer clothes. We suffer from extreme cold, hunger, and diseases without exception, particularly due to the spread of scabies. I have also contracted other diseases due to the harsh prison conditions.” Another detainee, A.N

“Today, I can hardly stand or walk easily” because of scabies and the physical abuse he was subjected to during his detention. “I now bleed because of what I have been subjected to.” Referring to the case of his cellmate, Ashraf Abu Warda, who died late last month, J.S. said:
“Abu Warda’s condition was very dire and he had lost the ability to speak, remember, and even stand on his feet before his death.” Detainee J.S.

“The Israeli prison administration deliberatelv removes the mattresses every morning and returns them in the evening, despite the harsh cold. Sometimes, they intentionally punish us by delaying the return of the mattresses until midnight.” Other detainees confirmed this account.

Abd al-Qader Tafesh, 32, from Jabalya R.C., Gaza Strip: “I was kept there with: my: hands in metal handcuffs day and night, and sometimes my legs, too. Sometimes they: hung me by one hand and left me like that for three or four hours until I fainted. I couldn’t move the other hand because my shoulder must have been broken from the beatings when the platinum came ou1. I was taken to the interrogation room about five or six times and asked about my friends and neighbours and whether I had undergone military training. All they gave us to eat was a slice of bread, a cucumber, and a small piece of cheese. Now and then we got some tunafish and a bit of water to drink.”

“They put me on a bus, and I could see under the blindfold that there was no one there except the driver. Eight soldiers got in after me and swore at me. One of them hit me hard on the head and on the shoulder. The bus started driving, and after about ten minutes we got to a camp I didn’t know. The soldiers took me out, and then a soldier punched me hard on the head.” Maryam Salhab, 21 , from Kalkass, West Bank.

As early as the first month of the genocide in Gaza, Sde Teiman, a secretive Israeli military ‘prison’ in the Negev desert, raised alarm bells for Israeli human rights attorney Roni Pelli and other rights advocates. A CNN investigation in May revealed that Palestinian detainees were restrained and blindfolded, forced to sit and sometimes stand throughout the night beneath floodlights. Wounded Palestinians were strapped down onto beds, forced to wear nappies, and fed through straws. Soldiers beat detainees motivated by revenge for the October 7 attacks. Prisoners’ limbs were amputated due to untreated wounds from restraints, and such operations took glace without anaesthesia. In June, the New York Times published an investigation into the conditions at Sde Teiman, which contained testimony from former prisoners that their Israeli jailers had tortured them with anal rape by a metal rod, among other abuses.

Trigger warning: what you will see below is a Palestinian man being raped by multiple occupation soldiers. The video is 5 months old but it is included here for context. The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz spoke to Yoel Donchin, the doctor who treated the prisoner in the incident who said he suffered from “a ruptured bowel, a severe injury. to his anus, lung damage and broken ribs”. Sources:

theintercept,com/2024/08/09/israel-prison-sde-teiman-palestinian-abuse-torture/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2024/aug/08/israeli-media-alleged-sexual-abuse-palestinian-detainee-video

Take collective action. Email your elected official. Free email template at Email Templates – Humanti Project

Your Elected Official Could Be Complicit in the Genocide in Gaza. As a constituent, you can demand action. Humanti Project reviews reports from Gaza and creates free email templates to send detailed accounts of Israeli war crimes directly to your representative. These emails create a documented paper trail that could be crucial for future legal action.

Keir Starmer and his government have yet to mention Israel’s torture, rape and murder of Palestinian hostages, let alone to condemn those actions or its genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza or to say that they will arrest Israeli leaders if they come into UK jurisdiction. Instead they are actively participating in Israel’s crimes and persecuting UK journalists who expose them.

Use a selection of email templates to contact your elected official. Identify organisations actively distributing food and shelter on the ground. Visit humantiproject.org/kitchens for more information.
§sources
by SKWAWKBOX (SW)
sources
sources for the above article
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$130.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network