Palestinian detainees from Gaza are being subjected to brutal torture and degrading treatment inside Israeli detention centres, according to a new report by prisoners’ rights groups.
The findings, based on testimonies collected between late July and mid-August, expose systematic abuse inside the underground Rakevet section of Ramla Prison and the Sde Teiman military camp, both long associated with severe mistreatment of Palestinian inmates.
The briefing, titled ‘Enduring Hell: Gaza Detainees Face Severe Israeli Torture and Terror Behind Bars’, was released by the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.
It documents the conditions faced by detainees abducted from Gaza, describing them as among the worst in decades.
Detainees arrive weeping and terrorised
Lawyers visiting prisoners inside Ramla Prison’s underground Rakevet unit reported that detainees arrived for meetings visibly shaken, with some crying and unable to speak about their ordeal.
Prior to the visits, guards beat and threatened them, warning that they must tell their lawyers conditions were “excellent”.
Lawyers were also barred from providing information about the detainees’ families in Gaza or updates on the ongoing genocide.
Prisoners described a regime of beatings, forced isolation, and psychological torment. They are denied exposure to sunlight, allowed only 20 minutes outside every other day, handcuffed and forced to lower their heads.
Mattresses are distributed only at night, leaving them to sit on metal frames during the day.
Insults and humiliation are constant, with guards reportedly forcing detainees to curse their own families.
One detainee appeared to have been severely beaten, his wrists deeply marked by handcuffs, his face streaked with tears. He remained silent during the meeting, signalling with his eyes that he was too afraid to speak. Lawyers reported widespread psychological distress among all detainees visited.
Torture testimonies
Several detainees described enduring extreme forms of torture during interrogation and detention.
One prisoner, identified as AY, said: “I was arrested in December 2023 and taken to the ‘barracks,’ where I stayed for eight days. During that time, I was subjected to four days of ‘disco’ interrogation… I was beaten daily for 30 days straight. I currently suffer from torn chest muscles and severe pain due to prolonged shackling of my arms behind my back.”
Another detainee, YD, recounted:
“I was interrogated in the field for an hour, then transferred to the ‘barracks,’ where I was beaten, and then placed under the ‘disco’ interrogation method… The beating was so violent that my handcuffs came off twice. I was struck violently on the head, and my hair was pulled out. Now I suffer from rib fractures and I can’t sleep.”
AB, arrested on the second day of the war in Gaza, revealed that guards broke his fingers during interrogation after subjecting him to prolonged stress positions and sexual violence.
Beyond torture, prisoners are enduring conditions of near-famine. Testimonies describe food rations so small they can barely feed one person, forcing entire cells to pool scraps together for a single evening meal. Many detainees are severely underweight and physically weakened.
Hygiene is virtually nonexistent, leading to outbreaks of disease, most notably scabies. Prison authorities deny medical care, allowing infections to spread.
Since October 2023, thousands of Gaza residents have been detained, including women, children, the elderly, medical staff, and journalists.
Rights groups accuse Israeli forces of carrying out enforced disappearances, refusing to reveal the identities or locations of many prisoners. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied access to these facilities.
The report further documents cases of detainees tortured to death, starved to death, and even raped to death, describing these abuses as part of a deliberate policy of collective punishment.
Of the 76 Palestinian political prisoners confirmed dead since the start of the Gaza genocide, 46 were abducted from Gaza.
