Testimonies from 55 ex-Palestinian detainees reveal that more than a dozen Israeli prison camps set up after October 7 are dedicated to the abuse of those in custody, a report by Israeli rights group B’Tselem says.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has collected testimonies from 55 Palestinians, including 21 from the Gaza Strip, who had been held in Israeli prisons, detailing the torture they were subjected to.
The B’Tselem report, titled Welcome to Hell, revealed on Tuesday that more than a dozen Israeli prison facilities have been converted into a network of camps “dedicated to the abuse of inmates” since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
“Such spaces, in which every inmate is intentionally condemned to severe, relentless pain and suffering, operate in fact as torture camps,” it 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”.
B’Tselem said at least 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 7, including about 48 people from Gaza.
The report said that detainee testimonies demonstrate “a systemic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners”.
This policy, it said, is implemented under the direction of Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, with the full support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“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,” the report said in its conclusion.
Call for ICC probe
It called on 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 mobilized in support of these torture camps”.
B’Tselem also noted that the number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails has doubled to 9,623 since the war on Gaza began.
“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 recognize the Israeli regime operating this system as an apartheid regime that must come to an end,” the group concluded.
There was no immediate reaction to the report from the Israeli authorities.