Israel holds 661 Gazans in prison, unknown number in detention facility

An Israeli soldier arrests a Palestinian man during a campaign to arrest Palestinians in the village of Shweika, near Tulkarm, in the northern West Bank on 03 November 2023 [Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]

The Israeli occupation is holding 661 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in its prisons. This number does not include Palestinians who have been disappeared since 7 October and are held in the Sde Teiman facility near Be’er Sheva, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported yesterday.

Israeli authorities refuse to disclose the number of Gazans detained in Sde Teiman, nor provide details as to whether they will be transferred to prison or released.

The newspaper quoted a source as saying that the detainees in Sde Teiman are subjected to violence and punishment by Israeli soldiers who abuse them “according to their whims”.

The detainees are subjected to beatings, handcuffing to walls and forced to stand with their hands bound above their heads.

Most of the Palestinian prisoners from Gaza are held in the Ktzi’ot Prison, according to data provided by the Israeli Prison Service to the human rights organisation, the Centre for Individual Defence.

READ: Israel holding bodies of 450 Palestinians since 7 October

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