Sodomised to death: Stories of torture at Israel's Sde Teiman base emerge

A three-month investigation by The New York Times has unearthed severe torture and egregious human rights violations at an Israeli military base in Sde Teiman, southern Israel.

Since the onset of Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, a chilling pattern of grotesque abuse has emerged within Sde Teiman's walls.

Detainees, shackled by horror, have borne witness to unspeakable acts: sodomised with metal rods, jolted with electricity, and subjected to merciless beatings with batons, rifle butts, and handheld metal detectors.

Several detainees recounted about constant blindfolding and being stripped to their underwear throughout their detention.

Younis al-Hamlawi, a 39-year-old paramedic, recounted the excruciating pain he endured when subjected to torture at Sde Teiman. He said he was ordered by a female officer to have his rectum pressed against a metal stick fixed to the ground, causing severe bleeding and unbearable agony.

"It felt like fire," he lamented, echoing the sentiments of Muhammad al-Kurdi, the 38-year-old ambulance driver, who endured similar torment.

"I was imprisoned for 32 days," al-Kurdi said. "It felt like 32 years."

Physicians for Human Rights, an Israeli rights group, labelled a hospital at the torture compound Sde Teiman as "a low point for medical ethics and professionalism."

Dr. Yoel Donchin, a military doctor at the site, expressed confusion over the detainees' identities, noting that many were highly unlikely to be combatants, including a paraplegic, a person weighing roughly 300 pounds, and another breathing through a tube in his neck since childhood.

The investigation found that 35 of the 4,000 Palestinian detainees had died either at the site or after being brought to nearby civilian hospitals.

Eight former detainees, their voices trembling with the weight of shared trauma, dared to break the silence and expose the horrors they endured at Sde Teiman. Their accounts paint a chilling tableau of unrelenting brutality.

One detainee, Bakr, recounted, "This is the punishment for anyone who sleeps," recalling an officer's words after savagely beating him for falling asleep. Other detainees described being forced to wear only a diaper and subjected to electric shocks.

According to the report, some detainees like Bakr were brought to the "disco room," where loud music prevented sleep, a form of torture causing one detainee to bleed from his ear.

Ibrahim Shaheen, a truck driver, described being shocked multiple times while officers accused him of hiding information about the location of dead hostages.

Upon release, some detainees were returned to Gaza without charge, apology, or compensation. Bakr, after a month in detention, recounted being bludgeoned by a soldier when asking for his confiscated phone and money.

Aid workers from the Red Cross greeted the detainees, providing food and brief medical checks before returning them to Gaza. Bakr’s first contact with his family after his release was heart-wrenching: "They asked me, ‘Are you alive?'"

Outcry

Egyptian writer Amr Rageh wrote: "Gazans at Sde Teiman face strict rules — limited communication, restricted movements, and prolonged detention without charges. Former detainees report harsh treatment."

As one doctor at the site summarised, "They take everyone," reflecting the indiscriminate nature of the detentions and the harsh conditions faced by those held at Sde Teiman.

NYT has also come under fire for trying to "bury the worst Israeli abuses" in its article titled "Inside the Base Where Israel Has Detained Thousands of Gazans"

"One has to read through 3400 words of a 3800 word @NYTimes story to reach horrific testimonies of Israeli torture from 3 of 8 Palestinian detainees from Gaza interviewed. How many readers get this far? It looks again like a deliberate NYT choice to bury the worst Israeli abuses," an X user @AdalahNY wrote.

Another wrote: "The first observation to make is about this rather bland title, burying the lead: Israel’'s torture, sexual violence, and rape, which it commits systematically in the Sde Teiman concentration camp."