Illinois Global Review

“I was naked, cold, beaten, starving, exhausted and completely drained. If any prisoner fell asleep the soldiers would viciously beat him on the head or chest to keep him awake. They wanted us to stay between life and death–” Moaz Muhammad Khamis Miqdad

Since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, the mass-arrest of Palestinians– including women, children, and the elderly– has become commonplace. It is estimated that at least 9,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli detention centers, most of them without trial or access to legal representation. Hundreds of testimonies reveal that unimaginable horrors lie within the walls of these prisons. One detainee, Ashraf al-Muhtaseb, a 53 year old father from Hebron, described the abuse as “a nightmare beyond words.” Beatings, verbal abuse, psychological torture, and sexual violence are daily occurrences. Since the prisoner swap led to the release of some 1,200 detainees, many more have shared their stories to human rights groups and the media.

A report by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem uses 55 survivors’ accounts to detail the different types of torture inflicted on Palestinian detainees. Beatings, strip searches, rampant medical neglect, and psychological abuse were reported by nearly all of the detainees interviewed. Testimonies collected in this report show that violence ramped up following the October 7 attack, with one girl from East Jerusalem stating that about 20 guards entered her cell and assaulted her and her cellmates shortly after news of the attack broke. Many detainees also reported that their abuse was filmed with cell phones by guards. Firas Hassan, a 50 year old from Hindaza, even stated that a group of guards filming sexual abuse of prisoners told each other they were “live streaming for [Itamar] Ben Gvir,” Israel’s security minister and head of prison policy.

Itamar Ben Gvir has a long history of anti-Arab racism. In 2007, he was convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization for carrying a sign that read “Expel the Arab enemy” and another sign invoking the name of Rabbi Meir Kahane that called Arab members of the Knesset a “fifth column.” Meir Kahane was an American-Israeli right-wing political activist and founder of the anti-Arab Kach Party, which advocated for the annexation of all Palestinian territory and the expulsion of its native population. The party was later banned from running for Israeli Parliament due to its racist and militant practices. Ben Gvir also faced charges of chanting “Death to Arabs,” though for this he was acquitted. He has appeared in numerous videos in Palestinian prisons, praising the “minimum of minimum” conditions granted to Palestinian prisoners. He once stated that Palestinian prisoners “come [in] fat” and “come out thin”, a phenomenon corroborated in the B’Tselem report by detainees who say that they lost large amounts of weight during their detentions due to inadequate food. He is also a supporter of the death penalty, even recently arriving at a hearing regarding a controversial death penalty bill wearing a noose pin; a bill which some argue would effectively only apply to Palestinians.

Several detainees also stated that humiliation rituals and psychological torture were frequent. Many in the B’tselem report stated that they were forced to kiss the Israeli flag, and were beaten if they refused. Some reported the Israeli national anthem being played over loudspeakers in an attempt to deprive prisoners of sleep. Prisoners were also forced to lie flat for extended periods of time with beatings by guards if they dared move.

Cruel and unusual punishment was given for the smallest infractions. Dogs were let loose on prisoners, and in at least one case without a muzzle. Electric shocks– even to prisoners' private parts– also appear to be a common practice. Mahmoud Abu Foul, who was detained at Kamal Adwan Hospital while being treated for an amputated leg caused by a 2015 Israeli airstrike, told media outlets that he was beaten so severely that he was left blind. One detainee even stated he was set on fire after having his body doused with chemicals. There was even evidence of such abuse on the dead bodies of detainees released under the prisoner swap: in addition to burns, the bodies of detainees have been returned with restraints, missing limbs or teeth, and bullet wounds.

Perhaps the most concerning development is the widespread instances of sexual violence by guards. Male detainees have reported that their private parts were grabbed or specifically targeted during assaults. One detainee, whose story appeared in the 72-page UN report that declared a genocide in Gaza, stated that his genitals were kicked so hard after being forcibly stripped and refusing to kiss the Israeli flag that he vomited and lost consciousness. Female detainees have been subject to unwanted sexual comments and insults, groped, and threatened with rape. Rape of both men and women– including with the use of foreign objects and dogs– has been reported by more than one detainee. A female detainee recounted to PCHR in graphic detail that she was raped multiple times by guards. In a now infamous video, multiple guards allegedly sodomized one prisoner, causing him to bleed internally, as guards appear to block the view of security cameras using shields.

A group of independent human rights experts stated in 2024 that “Torture practices are irredeemably unlawful and constitute international crimes, yet form part of the modus operandi of Israel’s notorious detention and torture system.” The B’Tselem report echoes this point, additionally emphasizing that such torture methods are illegal even under Israeli domestic law. In fact, some organizations, such as the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, have already submitted testimonies to the UN Committee Against Torture, calling on the international community to take action against such abuses. Additionally, such testimonies could have implications for the ongoing genocide trial brought against Israel due to the numerous instances of sexual violence and death within the prisons. In fact, the UN experts stated that these abuses “are intended to punish Palestinians for resisting occupation and seek to destroy them individually and collectively,” invoking language similar to the definition of genocide enshrined in international law.

The trauma of such abuse does not disappear with a ceasefire. One 18 year old male victim who was raped repeatedly with a glass bottle stated of his abuse, “They violated our dignity and destroyed our spirits and our hope for life. I had wanted to continue my education; now I am lost after what happened to me.” Who is responsible, then, for the thousands of other destroyed spirits and lost souls that are still within the walls of these prisons? Who will be held to account for those who didn’t live to tell of their abuse? It is currently unclear. However, until then, the physical and psychological impacts of the abuse inflicted on detainees in Israeli prisons will remain ingrained in the collective memory of Palestinians for years to come.