NEGEV, (PIC)
Recent satellite images have revealed an unprecedented expansion at the Sde Teman camp, which is an Israeli army camp turned into detention center, now known as “Israel’s Guantanamo,” due to the brutal torture inflicted upon detainees from Gaza.
According to Al Jazeera, satellite images indicate the emergence of several new buildings along with what appear to be large tents (shelters) in various locations within the Israeli military base, which has transformed from a camp and airbase into a detention prison and interrogation and torture center.
A report from the Euro-Mediterranean Monitor for Human Rights has received new testimonies about harsh torture and humiliating treatment of Palestinian detainees from Gaza – including women and children – inside the prison. This treatment includes stripping, sexual harassment and threats, as well as confinement in iron cages resembling those used for animals. They are bound and forced to sit on the ground in a harsh and humiliating position.
The report, published on February 5th, highlighted an escalation in torture such as “brutal and vindictive” beating of Palestinian detainees, releasing dogs towards them, subjecting them to lengthy standing hours, complete nudity, deprivation of food, and access to toilets.
A report published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated that 27 Palestinian detainees in Gaza died while being held in Israeli Sde Teman military base. However, the occupation army did not provide details about the circumstances of their deaths.
According to Haaretz, the detainees in Sde Teman were held bound with plastic ties and blindfolded throughout the day. Soldiers there punish Palestinians if they move or speak, making them stand for long periods with their hands bound over their heads and behind their backs, or restraining them in the open air without appropriate clothing.
According to Haaretz, the number of Gazans jumped by 150% during December of the previous year. During the war, Israel introduced legal amendments to the detention conditions. The new amendment allows for detaining prisoners for up to 75 days without seeing a judge, and a local court judge can prevent them from seeing a lawyer for up to 180 days.
After 163 days since the war in Gaza, according to the latest challenges published by the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society on Sunday, the number of Palestinians detained after the events of October 7th reached approximately 7,630 detainees. Israel refuses to provide human rights institutions, including international and Palestinian ones, with any data regarding their fate and places of detention.
