Israel is Torturing Palestinians to Death in Inhumane Detention Centers

Describing detention centers as "Guantanamo Israel", The "Washington Post" documents horrific testimonies of violations against Palestinian prisoners. The newspaper reported on the horrific reality of deadly violations against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, especially in the period following the events of October 7, 2023. Earlier, last month, the New York Times also reported about the abuse of Palestinian prisoners. Seven months ago, Israeli media concluded that Palestinian detainees were torture and killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. Last year, human rights organizations found evidence about Israel’s torture and murder of Gaza detainees and called   for international probe.

This Washington Post investigation found that many prisoners released recently show clear signs of physical torture, starvation, and denial of medical attention causing many to die.

The newspaper used testimonies from former prisoners and Palestinian lawyers, reviewing autopsy reports that revealed rampant violence and deprivation in the Israeli prison system, to prove the testimonies and documents that prisoners are subjected to physical and psychological torture, in addition to the slow killing policy pursued by "Israel" by preventing treatment, medicine, and food.

Among the horrific testimonies monitored by the newspaper, citing doctors and eyewitnesses who narrated the details of the deaths of prisoners in the occupation prisons, one Palestinian prisoner died after suffering a ruptured spleen and broken ribs, after being severely beaten by Israeli prison guards, while another prisoner met a tragic end due to a chronic condition that was not treated and the neglect of the prison authorities, while witnesses documented another prisoner screaming for help for hours before he was martyred.

The American newspaper covered the testimony of the prisoner who was recently released from Israeli prisons, Muaz Abayat, 37 years old, noting that he was "barely able to walk when he left prison," stressing that he was arrested following the events of October 7, 2023, on suspicion of being linked to the Hamas movement, but he was never charged.

“I’m not sure how old I am or how old my five children are,” Abayat said at a medical clinic in the West Bank town of Beit Jala, where he was receiving medical care. “I don’t know anything except prison,” he added.

The prisoner whose story was reported in the media was a former bodybuilder who had lost more than 100 pounds in nine months. “It’s Guantanamo,” he whispered as he described an Israeli prison guard who “sexually assaulted me with a broom.”

13 West Bank martyrs in occupation prisons

The newspaper reported that the three men are among at least 13 Palestinians from the West Bank who have died in Israeli prisons since October 7, according to Physicians for Human Rights, and an unknown number of prisoners from the Gaza Strip have also died.

Human rights groups have confirmed that conditions in crowded Israeli prisons have seriously deteriorated since the beginning of the war.

Former Palestinian prisoners described routine beatings, often carried out on entire cells or sections, usually with batons and sometimes with dogs, and said they were denied adequate food and medical care and subjected to psychological and physical abuse.

The Washington Post spoke to 11 former prisoners and six lawyers, examined court records and reviewed autopsy reports, and revealed the widespread violence and deprivation, sometimes fatal, by Israeli prison authorities.

While international attention and condemnation has focused on the plight of detainees in Gaza – particularly at the notorious Sde Teiman military site – human rights advocates say there is a deeper, more systemic crisis in Israel’s penal system.

"Israel" fears international pressure over prisons

The newspaper reported that there are documents indicating that the head of the Israeli General Intelligence Service "Shabak", Ronen Bar, warned in a letter to the prison authorities, on June 26, that the conditions of the Palestinians in prisons could lead to additional international legal measures, in conjunction with the International Criminal Court considering issuing arrest warrants against the Prime Minister of the occupation, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Minister of Security, Yoav Galant, due to "Israel's" behavior in Gaza.

In addition, institutions concerned with prisoners' affairs estimate that there are more than 9,000 Palestinian prisoners, while there is no confirmed number of prisoners from the Gaza Strip, or clear reports on their conditions in prisons.

Video: Israeli settlers, accompanied by Knesset members, stormed the Sde Teiman detention camp in the Negev, demanding the killing of Palestinian prisoners in it. 

These protests erupted in response to an Israeli court ruling that detained multiple Israeli jailers for torturing and causing severe injuries to Palestinian detainees, including rape.