New details are emerging from an underground Israeli detention center, corroborating a growing body of evidence of what human rights groups describe as the systematic and brutal mistreatment of Palestinian detainees. Lawyers’ testimonies paint a harrowing picture of assault, medical neglect, and isolation, adding to the grave concerns over Israel’s carceral practices amid its ongoing war in Gaza.
The Underground Facility: Rakevet
At the center of these latest allegations is Rakevet, an underground wing of the Nitzan prison complex in Ramla, central Israel. Palestinian lawyers who have managed to visit clients there describe a clandestine and oppressive environment.
“When the prisoners arrive for the interview, their faces show what they’ve endured,” lawyer Nadia Daqqa told Al Jazeera. She detailed the intimidating conditions of these legal meetings, stating, “Particularly in this prison, prisoners are afraid to talk. The [interview] room is one square metre and the guards refuse to leave.”
Despite this climate of fear, lawyers have collected disturbing testimonials. One detainee, referred to by the initials YH, was reported to have a broken jaw, shoulder, and ribs, yet had received no medical treatment. Another, known as KHD, alleged that Israeli prison guards systematically punish prisoners “by breaking their thumbs,” a method seemingly designed to inflict severe pain while leaving less visible marks.
A Pattern of Abuse Across the Prison System
The reports from Rakevet are not isolated. They form part of a wider pattern of alleged abuse within Israel’s detention network, which has expanded rapidly since the war began in October 2023. According to the Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer, more than 9,200 Palestinians are currently detained in Israeli prisons, with the majority held under administrative detention—a practice allowing for indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial.
A particularly notorious facility is Sde Teiman, a military detention camp where reports of torture, sexual violence, and killings have been rampant. The grim reality of these allegations was given visceral weight when the bodies of slain Palestinian detainees, returned to Gaza under a ceasefire agreement, showed clear signs of torture, mutilation, and execution. Some were reportedly returned with ropes still tied around their necks.
Systemic Issues and Legal Endorsement
Several Israeli human rights organizations have condemned the conditions as a form of state-sanctioned torture. In a June statement, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) said, “Human rights organizations documented widespread abuses, including physical beatings, sexual violence, harassment, and threats – pointing to systemic and deliberate mistreatment.”
This wave of abuse occurs alongside a political push from within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government to enact harsher policies. Recently, the Israeli parliament advanced a bill that would impose the death penalty for “terrorism” offences, a move championed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Rights groups have universally condemned the bill, noting its “racist” motives would exclusively target Palestinians, while attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank would not be subject to the same penalty.
Addameer responded to the bill on November 9, stating it “marks a new episode in the ongoing series of oppression and constitutes a grave escalation in Israel’s widespread violations against Palestinians, including hundreds of extrajudicial executions.”
The Psychological Torture of Indefinite Detention
Basil Farraj, a professor at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, argues that facilities like Rakevet are a symptom of a broader system of Israeli carcerality designed to subjugate the Palestinian population.
“This secret centre is in fact a symptom of the broader phenomenon of Israeli carcerality, where Palestinians continue to be treated in a violent and, in fact, an extremely brutal way that denies and negates all of their rights,” Farraj told Al Jazeera.
He highlighted the use of Israel’s “unlawful combatants” law, which grants authorities the power to detain individuals from Gaza indefinitely on security grounds without presenting evidence or laying charges. This legal mechanism, applied extensively in the current conflict, inflicts profound psychological damage.
“The fact that you are held without trial adds another layer of psychological abuse and psychological torture,” Farraj explained. “Not knowing why you are being arrested, for how long, or on what basis… adds to these layers of violence and torture that Israel has entrenched.”
International Law and Official Response
The practices described—including torture, willful killing, and cruel treatment of detainees—are grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and are considered war crimes under international law. The denial of due process through administrative detention also contravenes fundamental principles of international human rights law.
The Israeli authorities have consistently denied allegations of systematic abuse, maintaining that they operate within the bounds of the law. However, the volume and consistency of testimonies from released detainees, lawyers, and human rights monitors present a formidable challenge to these denials, raising urgent questions about accountability and the protection of human rights in the context of the conflict.
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