Report: New testimonies of Palestinian political detainees arrested from Gaza
Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) & the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs
February 12, 2025
Ramallah, Palestine - It has been 1.5 years since the genocide in occupied Gaza. Systematic crimes against Palestinian political prisoners continue unabated. The testimonies of Palestinian detainees arrested from Gaza continue to reveal the horrors perpetrated by the occupation, particularly during arrest and transfer of detainees to Israeli central prisons and military detention camps.
The intensity of the crimes being committed has not decreased in severity since the ceasefire in Gaza. Thousands of Palestinian prisoners face a real threat and danger to their lives. The more time passes, the greater the risk. Dozens of Palestinian prisoners have been killed in Israeli custody since the start of the genocide. After over a year, many families in Gaza still do not know the fate of their children and loved ones.
This new report is based on lawyers’ visits that took place in February 2025 to 18 Palestinian political prisoners being held at the Naqab Prison and the Sde Teiman military camp, which have become infamous for the abuses that take place there. It is also based on the dozens of testimonies lawyers’ and prisoners’ institutions gathered over the past several months. The most prominent crimes committed were torture, severe beatings, starvation and humiliation in all its forms.
Testimonies:
- Detainee (K.W.) said: “I was on my way to the south of Gaza through the ‘safe corridor.’ I was subjected to severe beatings and abuse (by soldiers) before being arrested. The beatings were brutal. They didn’t even look at my I.D. After that, they put a camera on my face in order to identify me. They then ordered me to take off all my clothes and to wear white. I was with eight other people from noon until night in the cold, without food or drink. Then I was taken to a nearby house and they beat me up again - brutally - while I was shackled back, as a result of which I ended up with two broken hands. They did not provide me with any treatment. They used machetes to beat me, and slabs of wood. After that, they transferred me in a truck, and I remained the rest of the night in the bitter cold with a number of detainees. I was then transferred in an ambulance because the injuries on my arms were swollen and clear. Throughout my hospitalization, I was bound and blindfolded. They did not even explain my health situation to me.”
Lawyers’ note: The detainee arrived to the visit with a cast on his hands, and he was still shackled back from his upper arms. The detainee did not know where he was being held. He found out about his place of detention through the lawyer who visited him.
- Detainee (S.L.) told the lawyer that he was arrested while fleeing with his family to the south of Gaza. He was transported by a military vehicle from his place of arrest. After that, he was transferred in a bus to the Sde Teiman camp. He only found out about his place of detention through the lawyer. He was subject to prolonged brutal beatings (with military boots) and experienced severe pain and difficulty breathing after receiving such intense blows. Even months after his arrest, he still suffers from chest pains.
Like many detainees, (S.L.) was subject to what is being referred to as the ‘disco' interrogation method** for six consecutive days, while he was blindfolded the entire time. Additionally, he was forced to sign documents in Hebrew without understanding what was written. After 45 days of his arrest, a court session was held that lasted only one minute. He was charged without being allowed to speak during the session, and the judge issued a ruling to keep him detained indefinitely.
**The use of ‘music torture’ commonly referred to as the ‘disco interrogation method,’ is when detainees are exposed to loud noise or music for prolonged periods of time. This practice is often paired with stress positions, sleep deprivation and intentional starvation. It was used by the United States army in Iraq and has been used in Guantanamo Bay prison.
Basic rights of prisoners used as methods of abuse
The occupation’s prison administration of the Sde Teiman military camp has turned yard time for the prisoners (known as ‘Fora’) into a way to torment the prisoners. The yard time is the only opportunity for prisoners to leave their cells, but since the beginning of the genocide, thousands of Palestinian prisoners have been deprived of their right to time outside, for extended periods. Prison authorities systematically deny prisoners of yard time as a method of “punishment”.
According to many testimonies of prisoners held at the the Sde Teiman military camp, their yard time lasts no more than five minutes. This means that prisoners are locked in small cells 24 hours a day without any access to sunlight or outside air. When they are permitted to emerge for yard time, the guards intentionally use this as an opportunity to humiliate the prisoners by shouting at them, forcing them to bow their heads, and preventing them from speaking to one other. Anyone who attempts to speak is subject to punishment.
Moreover, since the genocide, prison authorities have confiscated prisoners' clothes, leaving each prisoner with only one change of clothes. Despite the legal efforts of various organizations, including those in the 1948-occupied territories, through petitions, some detainees, particularly those held in military camps, have been forced to wear the same clothes for over 70 days. Detainees are only allowed to change their clothes once a month.
According to testimonies from detainees at the Sde Teiman camp, the administration provides a small piece of soap, which 9 prisoners must share for showering. They refuse to provide any cleaning or hygienic supplies including for washing their clothes and cleaning their cells. Scabies skin disease has become infested in many prisons, with the prison administrations systematically refusing to treat the issue.
In the Naqab prison, occupation prison authorities continue to carry out many crimes including starvation and intentional medical negligence, according to testimonies gathered by the legal teams. After the genocide, the Naqab prison became one of the worst prisons where systematic crimes of torture, abuse, and various forms of physical and sexual assaults have been recorded. This, in addition to the disaster that struck the prisoners after the spread of scabies, has resulted in a number of other illnesses. The majority of 15 out of the 18 prisoners visited were infected with scabies or had been infected at some point. Some of them have been suffering from the effects of the disease for months.
It is important to note that two of the prisoners who were killed during the genocide died as a result of scabies: Mohamed Munir Mousa and Mo’taz Abu Znaid.
The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the PPS renew their demands for the international human rights system to move forward with taking effective decisions to hold the leaders of the occupation accountable for the war crimes they continue to commit against our people. We call for the imposition of sanctions on the occupation, which would place it in a clear state of international isolation. The role of the human rights system must fulfill the reasons why it was established in the first place. It must put an end to the terrifying state of its impotence in light of the ongoing genocide and aggression in the West Bank. We demand an end to the exceptional immunity granted to the Israel by colonial powers, treating it as above accountability, prosecution, and punishment.
Important figures regarding Palestinian political prisoners, particularly those from Gaza:
• To date, Palestinian prisoners’ groups are unable to attain a clear or accurate estimate of the number of detainees from Gaza held in the occupation’s custody, whether in military camps or central prisons. The only available data is from the occupation's prison administration, which announced in early January that there were 1,802 detainees (all from Gaza) who are being held under the ‘illegal combatants’ law which is similar to ‘administrative detention’ in the occupied West Bank. Those include three female detainees held at the Damon women’s prison. Separately, dozens of Palestinian children are held in particular at the Megiddo and Ofer military camp (inside Ofer Prison).
• Palestinian institutions have been unable to track the number of detentions from Gaza due to the widespread crime of enforced disappearance imposed by the occupation since the beginning of the genocide. Their number is estimated to be in the thousands.
• The occupation has established several special military camps to hold detainees arrested from Gaza, separate to those held in central prisons. Some of these military camps are known, while others may be kept secret from the public. The known military camps are Sde Teiman, Anatot, Ofer and Naftali. At Naftali military camp, the number of known political prisoners is 57 people from Gaza and 11 people from Lebanon.
• The testimonies and accounts of Gaza detainees have marked a significant shift, reflecting unprecedented levels of torture, abuse, starvation, as well as systematic medical crimes, sexual assault, and the use of detainees as human shields.
• These crimes have led to the martyrdom of dozens of Palestinian political prisoners, alongside field executions carried out against many during their arrest. Prisoners’ institutions have identified 37 martyred detainees who were originally arrested from Gaza. They are among 58 detainees in total who have been killed in Israeli custody since the start of the genocide. The occupation continues to conceal the identities of many other detainees who have been martyred in its camps and prisons.
• The occupation continues to prevent the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from conducting visits to all Palestinian political prisoners.
--ENDS