B’Tselem documents 'war crime' of torture, abuse in Israel prisons

Over a dozen Israeli prison facilities have been transformed into a network of camps “focused on the mistreatment of detainees” since the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza, Israeli rights group B’Tselem said in a new report.

“Welcome to Hell” includes testimonies from 55 Palestinians, including 21 from the Gaza Strip, who have experienced incarceration in Israeli prisons, describing the torture they suffered including arbitrary violence and sexual abuse.

Such spaces, in which every inmate is intentionally condemned to severe, relentless pain and suffering, operate in fact as torture camps

the rights group said.

The violations include “frequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation and degradation; deliberate starvation; forced unhygienic conditions; sleep deprivation; prohibition on, and punitive measures for, religious worship; confiscation of all communal and personal belongings; and denial of adequate medical treatment.”

It added that since 7 October, at least 60 Palestinians have died while in Israeli custody, with approximately 48 of them being from Gaza.

The report highlights that testimonies from detainees reveal “a systemic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners.”

This policy, the report asserts, is carried out under the orders of Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, with the complete backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Former Palestinian prisoner, Sari Huriyyah, 53, recounted: “There was a window in the cell, through which we heard detainees crying and shouting while guards beat them. The guards yelled out demands that they bark like dogs. We heard some of the detainees actually bark after they were hit. The guards laughed, of course. ”

The report said in its conclusion, “Given the severity of the acts, the extent to which the provisions of international law are being violated, and the fact that these violations are directed at the entire population of Palestinian prisoners daily and over time – the only possible conclusion is that in carrying out these acts, Israel is committing torture that amounts to a war crime and even a crime against humanity.”

B’Tselem has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate “individuals suspected of planning, directing and committing these crimes”, saying the probe was not possible inside Israel “since all state systems, including the judiciary, have been mobilised in support of these torture camps.”

The centre also noted that the number of Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons has risen to 9,623 since the onset of the Gaza conflict.

“We appeal to all nations and to all international institutions and bodies to do everything in their power to put an immediate end to the cruelties meted out on Palestinians by Israel’s prison system, and to recognise the Israeli regime operating this system as an apartheid regime that must come to an end.”

READ: Torture, sexual violence against Palestinian detainees ‘war crimes’, Amnesty says