DaysofPal- About 2,000 Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip are currently being held in harsh conditions in Israeli prisons, where torture is systematic and ongoing, according to testimonies and documentation by Palestinian rights groups.
At least 51 Gaza detainees whose identities are known have died in custody, while dozens more are reported missing under conditions described as enforced disappearance.
According to the report, prison authorities use cold, illness, and food as tools of humiliation and control.
Torture is said to begin at the moment of arrest and continue inside detention facilities, affecting every aspect of detainees’ daily lives.
Hazem Al-Samouni, a Palestinian journalist who spent 15 months in Israeli detention before being released in a prisoner exchange, said abuse was constant and intensified during interrogations.
“From the first day of arrest, there is beating, humiliation, stripping, and prolonged exposure,” he said.
“During interrogation, two guards surround you, and whenever the interrogator believes you are hiding something, they are ordered to beat you with batons.” He added.
Amani Sarahneh, head of media and documentation at the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, said the structure of torture has extended to “every human detail” inside prisons.
She said physical abuse, including beatings, stress positions, and sexual assault, exists alongside daily practices designed to inflict suffering.
“Injuries are exploited to cause pain, extreme cold is used through forced stripping or confiscation of blankets, and illness is manipulated by denying medication,” Sarahneh said, noting that even basic painkillers such as paracetamol have become a wish for detainees. Poor-quality food, lack of sanitation, and restricted access to toilets are also used as means of punishment, she added.
According to the Prisoners’ Media Office, Gaza detainees are being held under severe conditions in several facilities, including Ofer, the Negev prison, Sde Teiman, and Rakefet.
Detainees are reportedly deprived of blankets and mattresses for long hours, exacerbating their suffering during winter.
Starvation policies continue through meager food rations, while prisoners are denied group prayer, access to showers, and regular hygiene, leading to the spread of skin diseases.
Al-Samouni described a practice known among detainees as the “reception,” which he said functions as a torture chamber during transfers between sections or prisons.
“They force you to bend over or pour hot water on your back, causing severe burns,” he said. He also recalled guards using weather conditions as a form of punishment, forcing detainees to sit in water for hours during extreme cold, including before and during daily roll calls.
The report notes that detainees are subjected to different levels of abuse based on their classification.
Some prisoners, labeled as elite, are marked with red plastic tags and often held underground with their eyes and hands bound around the clock.
Others are given green or blue tags and classified as supporters of armed resistance.
Medical neglect has reportedly led to deaths inside detention facilities, Al-Samouni said he witnessed the death of two detainees in his section due to lack of medical care, including Mohammed Al-Akka, a 50-year-old man from Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.
Fellow detainees repeatedly demanded his transfer to hospital, but authorities refused, leading to a fatal deterioration in his condition.
The report also documents cases of psychological torture. One detainee, Imad Nabhan, 30, was reportedly held inside a metal coffin for 35 days at the Sde Teiman detention center, subjected to electric shocks and continuous loud noises.
During interrogation, his family was allegedly threatened with death. He later learned that while his parents were still alive, eight of his relatives had been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
Sarahneh said Israeli detention prisoners have effectively become “continuous torture arenas,” involving beatings, stress positions, sexual violence, the use of police dogs, and batons. She added that testimonies from Gaza detainees are among the most severe compared with those of other prisoners.
Despite the ceasefire in Gaza, rights groups say torture practices inside prisons have not changed.
More than 100 Palestinian detainees have died in custody, including 87 whose identities are known and at least 51 from Gaza, while the bodies of others remain withheld under enforced disappearance.
Sarahneh also warned of Israeli moves to introduce new legislation, including laws that could allow the execution of prisoners and special trials for detainees classified as “elite,” increasing psychological pressure and risks to those in custody.
Families of detainees, she said, are forced to rely on human rights organizations to learn the fate of their loved ones, amid the manipulation and withholding of information by Israeli forces.
In some cases, families are told a detainee is alive or has been released, only to later discover that the person had died weeks earlier.
Among the most serious abuses documented by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society are surgeries performed without anesthesia, amputations, severe beatings, electric shocks, the use of rubber bullets, and widespread disease, including scabies, which has reportedly infected thousands of detainees.
Rights groups warn that escalating Israeli measures and punitive policies are deepening the daily suffering of Gaza detainees, with no indication that conditions inside prisons will improve in the near future.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=71708
