Image Credits: Anadolu Ajansi
An Israeli advisory committee has unveiled disturbing details about the conditions faced by Palestinian detainees at Sde Teiman detention camp, located near the Gaza border. The report, headed by former military judge Ilan Schiff, highlights severe mistreatment, including detainees being blindfolded and housed in sheds initially intended for Israeli tanks. The committee’s findings indicate that detainees are only permitted one shower per week and are fed while handcuffed. These revelations follow earlier reports of widespread abuse and torture.
The investigation, triggered by the hospitalization of a Gaza detainee with severe injuries, has led to the arrest of nine soldiers accused of significant abuse. Despite the committee’s focus on conditions rather than specific criminal acts, the report sheds light on harsh and degrading practices that include forced physical restraint and inadequate medical care.
Whistle-blowers from within the camp have reported further abuses, such as operations performed without anaesthesia and physical assaults on detainees, allegedly in retaliation for the recent Hamas attacks. The camp is described as having two main areas: one holding about 70 detainees in extreme restraint, and another where detainees are restrained to beds and subjected to severe conditions.
Abdullah Al Zaghari from the Palestine Prisoner’s Club condemned the detention facility as a major example of torture against Gaza detainees and highlighted the broader issue of abuse in Israeli prisons. Reports indicate that over 4,000 Palestinians have been detained in Gaza and nearly 10,000 in the West Bank since the conflict began, with numerous deaths recorded in detention.
The committee’s findings have been submitted to Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi. The situation has sparked significant controversy, with right-wing protesters and government members disrupting investigations and halting discussions on Israel’s border tensions with Lebanon. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s involvement has intensified political frictions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, leading to calls for a robust response and investigation into the riots and the handling of detainee abuse.