Israeli high court orders govt explain conditions at facility where Palestinians 'raped, tortured'

Israeli high court justices have ordered the government to give answers over the conditions at Sde Teiman, a facility where thousands of Palestinians are being held in conditions that have been described as horrific.

Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman and justices Daphne Barak-Erez and Ofer Grosskopf issued the order on Monday after the government requested additional time on the closure of Sde Teiman.

According to Haaretz, the judges demanded the state answer "why the Sde Teiman detention facility is not operated in accordance with the conditions set forth in the law governing internment of unlawful combatants".

Attorney for the state Aner Helman said that a government committee on the issue would present its conclusions to Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi on Tuesday.

The order comes after the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) filed a lawsuit claiming that the extent of the violations of detainees' rights at the facilities "may even amount to a war crime" and that holding detainees at Sde Teiman was unconstitutional.

On Monday, ACRI attorney Oded Feller said his group wanted the court to issue a provisional order.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government had been required to move detainees out of the site before Monday's hearing, but has failed to do so. The Attorney-General of Israel, Gali Baharav-Miara has previously accused Netanyahu of obstructing the closure.

Khaled Mahajne, a Palestinian lawyer who visited the site, said it was "unlike anything I've seen or heard before".

Mahajneh had been at the prison to see journalist Mohammad Arab, who works for The New Arab's sister network Al-Araby TV.

Arab reported seeing cases of rape and torture of inmates at Sde Teiman, Mhajne told a press conference in Ramallah earlier this week.

Other Israeli facilities have also been subject to scrutiny for their harsh conditions, including the Ofer Military Prison where recently released Palestinian bodybuilder Moazaz Abayat lost half his weight after eight months of detention.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who controls the prison service, has said that he has sought to worsen the conditions of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.