B'Tselem details systematic abuse and torture of Palestinians held in Israeli jails

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has released a report on Monday outlining Israel's systematic abuse and torture of Palestinians held in its prisons since the start of the war on Gaza on 7 October.

The report, entitled 'Welcome to Hell', details numerous cases where Palestinian detainees were subjected to acts ranging from arbitrary violence to sexual abuse. 

Based on interviews with 55 Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, the group received testimonies from several who were detained in Israeli prisons since October 7- and most of them under administrative detention, without a charge or trial.

"The testimonies clearly indicate a systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel," the report said. 

B'Tselem reported that Palestinian prisoners had been subjected to arbitrary beatings, degrading and humiliating treatment, and sleep deprivation.

The report also highlighted the "repeated use of sexual violence, in varying degrees of severity". 

"The overall picture indicates abuse and torture carried out under orders, in utter defiance of Israel's obligations both under domestic law and international law," the report asserted. 

Former detainees, including a journalist for The New Arab’s Arabic-language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, spoke to the rights group about their detention in Israeli prison facilities, military and civilian, which were described as "a network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates".

Diaa al Kahlout, a senior journalist at Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, gave his testimony to B'Tselem, which was included in the report which described his ordeal following his arrest in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, north of Jabalia, in December 2023. 

Al Kahlout detailed numerous instances of torture and beatings while being restricted from taking medication for his cartilage issues. 

He said on a day that rained, detainees were forced to strip and wear only diapers in the outdoors.

"Everyone who was interrogated that day was put in diapers," Al Kahlout added. 

"For the first 25 days of detention, they forced us to kneel all the time. One night, they had a barbecue next to us, sang and talked about soccer loudly. They did all that to make it hard for us to sleep."

Allegations of prisoner abuse have emerged repeatedly since the war on Gaza began, increasing international pressure on Israel over its conduct during the ten-month onslaught. 

B'Tselem, an Israeli NGO which documents human rights violations by Israel in the occupied West Bank and other areas, claimed that the treatment of prisoners was a deliberate policy directed by hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. 

A spokesperson for the prison service noted that since the October 7 attack, Ben-Gvir had ordered stricter prison conditions to reverse previous improvements. 

Since October 7th, Israel has instated a systemic policy of abusing and torturing thousands of Palestinians in its custody.
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— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) August 5, 2024

Ben-Gvir himself has often boasted that, under his oversight, conditions for Palestinian detainees have significantly worsened. 

"I take pride in the fact that during my tenure, we altered all the conditions," he stated to members of the Knesset during a heated parliamentary session in July. 

The Jerusalem-based group concluded in its months-long investigation that Israeli prisons should be named "torture camps". 

The report was released days after the Israeli military detained nine soldiers accused of the severe assault of a Palestinian detainee in the Sde Teiman military facility in the Negev desert.  

According to Israeli media, the soldiers are suspected of sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner. 

B'tselem's report also follows a series of other reports, including by the UN, which disclose allegations of abuse against Palestinian detainees. 

The United Nations human rights office said late last month that thousands of Palestinians have been detained in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel since the start of the conflict. 

They have mostly been held in secret and in some cases subjected to treatment that may amount to torture, the OHCHR reported.