DayofPal– Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman prison, where Israeli guards have reportedly tortured and raped Palestinian detainees, has been a venue for convening daily meeting by officials from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), according to a report by the Guardian on Monday.
Citing three USAid officials, The Guardian reported that Israel’s humanitarian relief hub, known as the joint coordination board (JCB), began operating at Sde Teiman on 29 July, and coordinating its logistics with the US, United Nations and “a number of international NGOs”.
A sources said that the relocation of the humanitarian operations center to Sde Teiman has been a closely guarded secret, and that USAid documents and internal correspondence list the location as Beersheba.
An internal USAid document reviewed by the Guardian referred to “the present JCB location on Sde Teiman IDF base”, which is located near Beersheba in southern Occupied territories.
A sources spoke on condition of anonymity told The Guardian that two USAid officials travel to Sde Teiman daily for JCB meetings with Israeli and UN officials.
Tasked with facilitating urgently needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, USAID decision of using Sde Teiman as a place for its daily meetings has triggered backlash from its employees.
One US official told the Guardian: “It’s another form of psychological torture to make someone work there. I can’t sleep at night knowing that it’s going on.”
A USAid spokesperson wrote by email that “USAid is working closely to ensure more effective dialogue between humanitarian partners and the Israeli government to improve the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of humanitarian movements into and throughout Gaza.”
But the officials who spoke with the Guardian said that the Israeli military has undermined coordination with the UN and humanitarian organizations over the past year, and the relocation of the JCB to Sde Teiman reflected that. “It seems like trolling,” one of them told the Guardian.
Since October 2023, the Israeli military has detained over 4,000 Palestinians from Gaza at Sde Teiman, frequently holding them without charges or evidence of any wrongdoing.
Human rights organizations and former detainees reported that many Gazans have endured extreme abuse and torture, including beatings, electric shocks, forced feeding, and even sexual assault. An Israeli doctor who served at the facility noted that prisoners often had limbs amputated due to extended periods of handcuffing.
According to officers at the facility, 35 Palestinians who were detained there since October have died of torture, either within the facility or after being transferred to nearby hospitals.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=58056
