B’tselem’s “Welcome to Hell” report includes evidence from 55 recently freed Palestinian detainees, whose vivid testimony reveals a drastic worsening of prison circumstances since the start of the Gaza conflict ten months ago.
It’s the latest in a string of reports, including one released last week by the UN, that feature appalling charges of torture against Palestinian detainees.
According to B’tselem, the testimony acquired by their researchers has been extraordinarily consistent.
“All of them repeatedly told us the same thing,” recalls Yuli Novak, B’tselem’s executive director.
“Ongoing abuse, daily violence, physical violence and mental violence, humiliation, sleep deprivation, people are starved.”
Ms. Novak’s conclusion is striking.
“The Israeli prison system as a whole, in regard to Palestinians, turned into a network of torture camps.”
‘Overcrowded and filthy cells.’
Since the catastrophic Hamas strikes on October 7, which killed about 1,200 Israelis and international nationals, the number of Palestinian detainees has risen to around 10,000.
In Israel, overcrowding has resulted in prisons run by the army and the country’s prison service.
