According to the whistleblowers, the beatings inflicted upon detainees were said to be done out of spite and not intended for intelligence gathering.
Three Israeli whistleblowers working at the Sde Teiman torture camp, a “holding” site for Palestinians abducted during “Israel’s” invasion of Gaza, have come forward with testimonies of systemic abuses by the military, including prisoners being restrained, blindfolded, and forced to wear diapers, CNN reports.
The whistleblowers described the grim conditions that Palestinian detainees face in Sde Teiman, stating that they were not allowed to move, talk, or even peek under their blindfolds.
“We were told they were not allowed to move. They should sit upright. They’re not allowed to talk. Not allowed to peek under their blindfold,” the whistleblowers told CNN.
CNN has released leaked images of the Israeli torture camp Sde Teiman in the Negev desert, where Israel perpetrates grave crimes against Palestinian prisoners abducted from Gaza. pic.twitter.com/hVqop9Tx22
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) May 10, 2024
Guards were instructed to enforce silence using Arabic commands like “uskot” (shut up: اسكت) and to identify and punish individuals described as “problematic.”
They described “a routine search when the guards would unleash large dogs on sleeping detainees, lobbing a sound grenade at the enclosure as troops barged in.”
Located approximately 18 miles from the Gaza separation line, the facility is said to be divided into two sections: enclosures where around 70 Palestinian detainees from Gaza are subjected to extreme physical restraint, and a field hospital where injured detainees are immobilized, diapered, and fed through straws.
“They stripped them down of anything that resembles human beings,” they said.
According to the whistleblowers, the beatings inflicted upon detainees were said to be done out of spite and not intended for intelligence gathering.
“(The beatings) were not done to gather intelligence. They were done out of revenge,” one of the whistleblowers said.
One whistleblower recounted witnessing an amputation performed on a man who had sustained injuries caused by the constant zip-tying of his wrists.
"We were allowed to pick out problematic people and punish them," one young Israeli military reservist tells @mchancecnn.
His account tallies with photographic evidence obtained by CNN of Palestinian detainees inside. https://t.co/0jhIQkgO5I pic.twitter.com/gLrYjGNBmU
— CNN International PR (@cnnipr) May 10, 2024
These testimonies align with details from a letter authored by a doctor working at Sde Teiman which was published by Haaretz in April.
“Just this week, two prisoners had their legs amputated due to handcuff injuries, which unfortunately is a routine event,” the physician said in the letter dated April.
He mentioned that prisoners were fed via straws, forced to use diapers for bodily functions, and subjected to continuous restraints, actions that contravene medical ethics and legal standards.
“We are all complicit in breaking law,” he was quoted as saying.
Accounts of a detained Palestinian doctor
Former detainee Dr. Mohammed al-Ran said that after being cleared of any links to Hamas links. He functioned as Shawish for a few weeks. The Shawish acted as middlemen to communicate and translate communications with Israeli guards on behalf of prisoners.
Al-Ran said he received “a special privilege”, namely the removal of his blindfold. This was a different type of hell, he said.
“Part of my torture was being able to see how people were being tortured,” Al-Ran said.
At first you couldn’t see. You couldn’t see the torture, the vengeance, the oppression.
When they removed my blindfold, I could see the extent of the humiliation and abasement … I could see the extent to which they saw us not as human beings but as animals.
Earlier today, Hamas warned that the Israeli prison administration’s escalation of its aggressive policies against prisoners and detainees “will result in further explosions in the face of the occupation.”
Following circulating reports of abuse and torture in Israeli prisons, the Palestinian Resistance group made it clear that the systematic assault on prisoners and detainees “will not weaken their resolve,” reiterating that the Resistance is committed to their liberation, a statement read.
It pointed out that the reported abuse and torture of prisoners and detainees indicate that the Israeli occupation government adopts a policy of deliberate attacks against them, motivated by punishment and revenge.
Hamas emphasized that the Palestinian people “will not leave their prisoners and detainees to fall victim to the brutality of the Nazi-like occupation,” stressing that the Resistance remains committed to achieving their imminent freedom.
The movement called on the masses of the Palestinian people, their factions, and youths to boost their revolutionary and resistant actions in support of the prisoners by all means.
Elsewhere, Hamas warned the “fascist Israeli government” against continuing with its criminal policy and held it fully responsible for the well-being of every prisoner and detainee.