Israel’s 'Abu Ghraib': Torture, abuse rife in desert concentration camp

On May 11, Wasim Salem stumbled upon a leaked photograph of his missing brother Ibrahim, which was featured in an investigative media report on Palestinian detainees from Gaza held by Israel.

The image showed Ibrahim, from whom the family had not heard in five months, standing blindfolded with his hands tied above his head, wearing a grey tracksuit, in front of a barbed wire fence.

The image and the report raised fears of Israel running a detention centre similar to the notorious prison operated by US forces at Abu Ghraib near Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, where prisoners were subjected to severe abuse, torture, and even execution by US military personnel.

When Wasem showed the photograph to Ibrahim’s family, they immediately recognised him.

Ibrahim’s daughter and wife's reactions were of stunned disbelief: "This is my father!” “This is my husband!"

Although the confirmation was deeply distressing, it gave the family the first sign of Ibrahim’s whereabouts since his disappearance. However, they still lack any information about his health or the charges against him.

Ibrahim, a 34-year-old father of three from Jabalia in North Gaza, had gone missing following a raid by Israeli forces at the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

On December 9, during an intense bombing campaign, Ibrahim’s family home was destroyed, killing most of his relatives and seriously injuring his three children.

When he rushed to the Kamal Adwan Hospital to be with his injured children, Israeli forces detained him along with the hospital's doctors and other civilians and besieged the hospital.

“We all know he is a hairdresser, so why was he detained by Israel, and why does no one have any information about his situation?” Wasim tells TRT World.

Torture beyond comprehension

In the investigative report, the US-based media outlet wrote that the photo was taken by one of the Israeli whistleblowers working at the notorious Sde Teiman desert camp run by the Israeli military.

Originally a military base, Sde Teiman was converted into a concentration camp-like detention centre during Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

Located around 30 kilometres from the Gaza frontier, in the Negev desert, it now holds most Palestinian detainees taken by Israeli forces, where they are subjected to physical and psychological torture, in some cases, to the point of death.

The whistleblower’s accounts, detailing the harrowing treatment of Palestinian detainees—including beatings, dog attacks, starvation policies, and denial of medical care—are corroborated by reports from human rights groups, leaked photographs and videos, and testimonies of released detainees.

All showed an alarming spike in Israel’s decades-long mistreatment and use of torture against Palestinian prisoners since October 2023.

“While the frequency of arrests has significantly increased after October 7, it reflects a policy of revenge and prominent aggressive behaviour by the occupation army,” Abdullah Al Zaghari, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS), tells TRT World.

“From the moment of arrest, through the interrogation and detention centres, detainees have been subjected to different methods of torture.”

According to the horrifying and astonishing testimonies of some released prisoners from Gaza, Al Zahgari adds that the systematic torture methods defy human comprehension.

“Prisoners are left in these prisons with their hands and legs shackled and their eyes blindfolded for days and weeks. The use of shackles as a means of torture has led to the amputation of limbs for some detainees inside the Sde Teiman prison, where a large number of detainees have died,” he says.

At least 36 Palestinians have died at the detention camp, and the Israeli military has acknowledged the deaths. However, they continue to claim that detainees are treated "appropriately and carefully" and that they investigate any sort of misconduct.

Despite clear evidence of severe mistreatment and torture, formal investigations are entrusted to the Israeli government.

On May 23, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, called on Israel to investigate these “allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment against detained Palestinians since 7 October 2023”, but the response has been minimal.

On the other hand, the US, Israel’s staunchest ally and diplomatic and military supporter in its genocidal war on Gaza, has not gone further than expressing that they are “deeply concerned” over the recent reports of torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody.

On June 3, Haaretz reported that the Israeli military police had launched 48 criminal investigations, mostly involving detainee deaths, including the 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 none of the suspects have been arrested.

Many human rights groups are concerned about the international community allowing Israel to conduct its own "investigation", given the state’s historical lack of accountability regarding the Israeli military’s conduct and justice for Palestinians.

Five months of silence

Since Israel’s war on the besieged enclave started, now raging in its eighth month and killing nearly 37,000 people, thousands of Palestinians have been detained from Gaza under the guise of the "unlawful combatants law", a controversial Israeli legislation that deprives them of prisoner of war status.

Among those detained are women, children, and members of vital community services, snatched from their families for reasons as arbitrary as not leaving their homes in the north.

“Since the beginning of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the occupation has carried out mass arrests of citizens, who face enforced disappearance and an unknown fate,” Al Zaghari says.

“We estimate that the number of detainees from the Gaza Strip exceeds 4,000 detainees, who are held in oppressive conditions and inhumane circumstances.”

The legislation, amended last December, allows the military to detain people for 45 days without an arrest warrant and proper legal proceedings, giving legitimacy to Israeli forces to arbitrarily detain Palestinians across the enclave.

Zaghari explains that for these 45 days of detention, prisoners are effectively invisible–their names are not disclosed, they are denied access to lawyers, and their families are not notified.

“Gaza prisoners face coercive policies, enforced disappearances, and a lack of disclosure of any information, preventing local or international human rights organisations from communicating with the detainees,” he adds.

The lack of transparency surrounding these detentions compounds the distress for families, who are left with no clear path to information or justice, with detainees seemingly disappearing into legal limbo, held without charge or explanation, and their basic rights denied.

For Ibrahim's family, the silence persisted for five months when the family coincidentally learned that he was held in Sde Teiman.

“There are no legal avenues we can follow to get my brother released or even to learn about his health condition; we only know that he is in some sort of Guantanamo-like prison,” Wasim, Ibrahim’s brother, says.

“The families of all these people are looking for the hope that they are alive. If this is not genocide, what is it?” he asks.

Despite drawing widespread condemnation from human rights organisations worldwide, Israel continues to operate these concentration camps, flouting calls for transparency and accountability.

This adds to the plight of around 9,000 Palestinian captives in occupied Palestinian territories, who are detained arbitrarily and held under administrative detention for extended periods.