Israel shuts down detention centre where Palestinians faced horrific abuse

Israel’s decision to shut down the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility is aimed at evading accountability and erasing evidence of the horrific abuse of Palestinian detainees, most of them from the besieged enclave of Gaza.

The Israeli government announced the gradual closure of the facility on June 11 following damning reports in several media outlets, which published gut-wrenchıng accounts of torture and human rights violations at the military-run detention centre in the Negev desert.

The publication of the news reports mounted pressure on the Netanyahu government, which is already facing charges of mounting a “genocidal war” on Palestinians in Gaza following the October 7 attack by the Hamas resistance group.

Israel’s Supreme Court also sought answers about the condition of inmates in response to a petition filed on May 23 by several Israeli human rights organisations, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

The petition called for the closure of the facility due to inhumane conditions and severe mistreatment that violated both Israeli and international law.

The Israeli government said that by the end of June, all detainees will either be relocated to other prisons within Israel or released to Gaza, marking a shift towards using Sde Teiman for short-term detentions only.

However, human rights groups say that the Israeli government's decision is aimed at skirting demands for transparency and accountability over the abuse of detainees at Sde Teiman.

They also view this move as an attempt to obscure evidence that could be uncovered through a thorough investigation.

“The Israeli occupation may believe that by transferring the detainees from Sde Teiman prison to other prisons, it will absolve itself of real responsibility for the crimes committed in Sde Teiman,” says Abdullah Al Zaghari, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner's Society.

“However, this will certainly not be the case,” Al Zaghari tells TRT World.

He says that the international community is now aware that “major crimes” were committed at Sde Teiman from the testimonies of former detainees.

“So, if it is indeed closed and no Palestinian detainees are held there anymore, this only underscores that the Israeli occupation has committed crimes against humanity and medical crimes against those detained there and now seeks to cover them up,” he adds.

Desert concentration camp

Originally a military base located 30 kilometres from the Gaza fence, Sde Teiman was converted into a concentration camp-like detention centre during Israel’s invasion of Gaza last October.

It now holds many of the Palestinian captives who were arbitrarily detained from their homes and families.

The Israeli government notified the Court that out of 700 Palestinians held, 500 have already been transferred to Ofer and Ktzi'ot military prisons. The fate of the remaining 200 captives remains unknown.

Milena Ansari, Israel and Palestine Researcher at Human Rights Watch, explains to TRT World that the detention and transfer of Palestinians to prisons inside Israel violate international humanitarian law, particularly the prohibition against detaining protected persons outside the occupied territory.

“This may also amount to the war crime of deportation and forcible transfer,” Ansari adds.

Late in May, the Israeli military announced that its chief, Herzi Halevi, would form an advisory committee to examine the conditions of detainees in military-controlled prisons.

On June 3, an Israeli newspaper reported that military police had launched 48 criminal investigations, mostly involving detainee deaths, including 36 Palestinians who died in Sde Teiman and two Gaza detainees who died en route to the facility.

However, no criminal charges have been filed, and no suspects have been arrested in Israel’s self-investigation.

Al Zaghari says the occupation system's current actions in response to pressure are part of Israeli propaganda, aiming to present itself as a democratic system taking measures to correct its actions.

“In reality, if the transfer of detainees from the camp to other prisons is indeed carried out, this is an attempt by the Israeli occupation system to halt the investigation by the team.”

Several media investigations, reports from rights organisations, and leaked photographs and testimonies from released detainees and whistleblowers have revealed horrific details of systematic torture and abuse against Palestinians held in the desert camp.

Detainees reported being threatened with prolonged detention, injury, or the killing of family members if they did not provide requested information. Some reported being forced into cages and attacked by dogs, according to Jonathan Fowler, senior communications manager at UNRWA.

Testimonies include accounts of other physical and psychological abuses, such as prolonged periods of kneeling while blindfolded and their hands tied, being subjected to sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme cold, and denial of basic needs like food, water, and medical care.

Both men and women reported incidents of sexual violence and harassment by Israeli soldiers while in detention.

Other methods of ill-treatment reported by detainees included insults and humiliation, such as being made to act like animals or being urinated on, use of loud music and noise, denial of the right to pray, and prolonged use of tightly locked handcuffs causing open wounds and friction injuries, Fowler noted.

‘Alarms are ringing’

This is just one prison spotlighted by the international community, including the UN, which has pressured for transparency and accountability regarding the war crimes taking place.

However, there are at least 25 other prisons across occupied Palestinian territories where systematic torture and mistreatment against Palestinian detainees have been occurring for decades.

That’s why Al Zahgari emphasises that the transfer of detainees does not improve their treatment.

"The suffering of prisoners continues in other prisons where all the elements of humane living conditions are lacking. Testimonies from various prisons, including Negev, Megiddo, Nafha, Ramon, Gilboa, and Ofer, indicate that the detainees' lives are hellish," he says.

Conditions in prisons located in occupied territories have only worsened since October 7, and at least 18 Palestinians have been reported killed in Israeli custody.

According to data from the Israel Prison Service, over 9,000 Palestinians are held in various detention facilities, with only 2,070 held under "prisoner" status. The rest are classified under categories such as "security detainees," "administrative detainees," and "unlawful combatants."

Many detainees are held under administrative detention, which allows for extended detention without trial or charges, often based on vague charges such as incitement or secret evidence, and they are prohibited from communicating with their families.

Milena Ansari from Human Rights Watch says that there are severe communication restrictions, and since October, Israel has suspended humanitarian visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"Human Rights Watch recently documented incommunicado detention of Gaza workers in Anatot military base and Ofer prison, where they faced humiliating treatment. Sde Teiman, like Anatot, is a military base unfit for detention, lacking adequate monitoring,” Ansari adds.

“Considering Israel’s decades-long track record of torturing Palestinian detainees and their complete isolation from the outside world, alarms are ringing at the gravity of the situation inside Israeli prisons.”