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Military rejects allegations and insists safeguards are in place to protect detainees
Palestinian prisoners have been systematically tortured and abused since Oct 7, a report by an Israeli human rights body has alleged.
Israel has “categorically” rejected the claims made by B’Tselem, a Jerusalem-based body.
Its report, entitled “Welcome to Hell” includes testimonies from 55 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, who describe abuse ranging from torture to sexual assault.
Fadi Baker, a 25-year-old from Gaza who was sent to Sde Teiman facility in the Negev desert, claimed that Israeli interrogators “put cigarettes out in my mouth and on my body”.
He added: “They put clamps on my testicles that were attached to something heavy. It went on like that for a whole day.”
The testimonies “clearly indicate a systemic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel,” B’Tselem said in its report.
The group alleged “frequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence” as well as sexual assault, humiliation and degradation, deliberate starvation and sleep deprivation.
The Israeli army told The Telegraph that it “categorically rejects” allegations of systematic abuse, including sexual abuse, in its detention facilities.
“Detainees are provided with three meals a day, maintained hygiene, regular showers, clean clothes, and adequate medical care,” the Israel Defense Forces added.
The report does not say when the interviews took place or refer to what those spoken to were accused of or charged with.
“We didn’t ask them, that’s not the point of the report,” Shai Parnes, of B’Tselem, told The Telegraph. “Most of them were released without charges.”
However, at least one of the prisoners, 45-year-old Thaer Halahleh, who claimed the prison turned into a “torture facility”, has previously been jailed over membership of Islamic Jihad.
It is unclear if he is still a member of the terror group and what he was accused of when jailed again in June 2022.
The Telegraph has asked the IDF for clarification of the charges and accusations against the 55 prisoners who were interviewed.
It said that it has various monitoring mechanisms to ensure that detention facilities are managed according to IDF orders and the law, “including inspections by senior officers who are not part of the facility staff, and continuous closed-circuit television monitoring”.
The report stated that an estimated 9,623 Palestinian prisoners were in Israeli jails as of early July.
Of those, more than 1,850 are said to be affiliated with Hamas, according to the Times of Israel, citing IDF figures.
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