Harrowing tales of torture inside ‘Israel’s’ Sde Teiman prison: NYT

Sde Teiman, a military installation in southern occupied Palestine, has gained notoriety as a site likened to a “New Guantanamo,” where the Israeli army reportedly engages in the torture and killing of Palestinian civilians of all ages, including children, who have been abducted from various areas of the Gaza Strip since the onset of the war on October 7. These individuals are brought to the facility for initial interrogation, as stated by the Israeli military.

Reports of abuse at Sde Teiman have already emerged in both Israeli and Arab media, following an outcry from local and international rights groups about the horrific conditions there.

In a related development, two journalists from The New York Times spent three months interviewing Israeli soldiers who worked at Sde Teiman and Palestinians detained there. One of the journalists visited the site, providing additional insight into “Israel’s” policy of systematic torture and abuse since October 7. It further challenges the Israeli government’s repeated claims that it operates according to accepted international practices and laws.

It is also worth noting that the details in the journalist’s account align with previous reports from prominent media outlets.

One scene from Sde Teiman

“The men sat in rows, handcuffed and blindfolded, unable to see the Israeli soldiers who stood watch over them from the other side of a mesh fence, They were barred from talking more loudly than a murmur, and forbidden to stand or sleep except when authorized. A few knelt in prayer. One was being inspected by a paramedic. Another was briefly allowed to remove his handcuffs to wash himself. The hundreds of other Gazan detainees sat in silence. They were all cut off from the outside world, prevented for weeks from contacting lawyers or relatives,” the NYT journalist echoed, adding, “This was the scene one afternoon in late May at a military hangar inside Sde Teiman.”

The Israeli military, which had previously restricted media access, permitted The New York Times to briefly observe a portion of the detention facility and conduct interviews with its commanders and other officials, under the condition of anonymity, as per the three-month investigation by The New York Times.

Formerly a little-known barracks, Sde Teiman has transformed into an ad hoc interrogation center and has drawn significant attention due to allegations of mistreatment of detainees by the Israeli military. These allegations include individuals later found to have no affiliations with Hamas or other armed groups, the investigation stressed. Former detainees, in interviews, recounted instances of beatings and other forms of abuse at the facility.

32 days felt like 32 years: An ambulance drive 

By late May, approximately 4,000 Gazan detainees had spent as long as three months in limbo at Sde Teiman, including several dozen individuals captured on October 7, according to site commanders who spoke to NYT.

Following interrogation, around 70 percent of the detainees were transferred to purpose-built prisons for further investigation and prosecution, the commanders reported. The remaining detainees, at least 1,200 individuals, were determined to be civilians and were sent back to Gaza without any charges, apology, or compensation.

“My colleagues didn’t know whether I was dead or alive,” reported The Times, quoting Muhammad al-Kurdi, 38, an ambulance driver whom the military confirmed was detained at Sde Teiman late last year.

“I was imprisoned for 32 days,” said al-Kurdi, who was captured in November after his ambulance convoy tried to pass through an Israeli military checkpoint south of Gaza City.

“It felt like 32 years,” he added.

Accounts of abuse and torture in Israeli secret detention facility

The investigation revealed that 1,200 Palestinian civilians were detained at Sde Teiman under demeaning conditions, unable to present their cases to a judge for up to 75 days. Additionally, detainees were denied access to lawyers for up to 90 days, and their location was kept hidden from both rights groups and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Some legal experts affirm that “Israel” is violating international law by these practices.

Eight former detainees, whose detention at the site was confirmed by the military and who spoke on the record, reported various abuses while in custody. They recounted being punched, kicked, and beaten with batons, rifle butts, and a hand-held metal detector. One detainee said his ribs were broken after being kneed in the chest, while another stated that his ribs were broken after being kicked and beaten with a rifle—an assault witnessed by a third detainee. Seven of them stated they were forced to wear only a diaper during interrogations, and three reported receiving electric shocks during their questioning.

Most of these testimonies were corroborated by interviews conducted by officials from UNRWA, the primary UN agency for Palestinians. The agency interviewed hundreds of returning detainees who reported widespread abuse at Sde Teiman and other Israeli detention facilities, including beatings and the use of an electric probe.

An Israeli soldier who served at Sde Teiman disclosed to The New York Times that his fellow soldiers often bragged about beating detainees, and he observed signs of such treatment. Speaking anonymously to avoid prosecution, he mentioned a detainee who was treated at the site’s makeshift field hospital for a broken bone sustained during detention and another who was briefly taken out of sight and returned with bleeding around his rib cage. The soldier also noted that one person had died at Sde Teiman from trauma injuries to his chest.

Torture murder

Since October, of the 4,000 detainees held at Sde Teiman, 35 have died either at the site or after being transferred to nearby civilian hospitals, according to base officers who spoke to NYT during their May visit. 

During the visit, senior military doctors claimed that they aimed to treat detainees as humanely as possible.

In recent weeks, the base has come under increased scrutiny from the media, including a CNN report later referenced by the White House, as well as from the Israeli Supreme Court, which began hearing a petition from rights groups on Wednesday to close the site.

How Palestinians are abducted in Gaza

Fadi Bakr, a Gaza City law student, recounted to NYT being apprehended by Israeli soldiers on January 5 near his family’s residence. Having been forcibly displaced amid the war, the 25-year-old had returned to his neighborhood in search of flour, only to find himself caught and injured.

As he was bleeding, he stated that the Israelis forcibly undressed him, seized his phone and savings, subjected him to multiple beatings, and accused him of being a surviving fighter.

“Confess now or I will shoot you,” Bakr recounts being told.

“I am a civilian,” Bakr remembered responding, but his efforts were in vain.

The circumstances surrounding Bakr’s arrest resemble those of other former detainees interviewed by NYT.

Al-Kurdi, the ambulance driver, recounted being captured while trying to transport patients through an Israeli checkpoint.

All eight former detainees recounted similar accounts of their capture: they were typically blindfolded, restrained with zip ties, and stripped down to their underwear, according to them.

Many reported being interrogated, physically assaulted, punched, and kicked while still in Gaza, with some stating they were struck with rifle butts. Subsequently, they described being crowded into military trucks with other partially clothed detainees and transported to Sde Teiman.

While some mentioned being transferred to the official Israeli prison system afterward, others said they were returned directly to Gaza.

Sde Teiman military base: In depth

During previous aggressions, such as the 50-day war in 2014, the Sde Teiman military base reportedly held a small number of Palestinian abductees from Gaza, serving as both a command center and a warehouse for military vehicles.

In October, “Israel” began utilizing the site to detain individuals abducted since October 7, leaving them in an empty tank hangar as reported by the site commanders. With the Israeli invasion of Gaza later in the month, Sde Teiman faced an influx of detainees, prompting the military to retrofit three additional hangars for detention purposes and convert a military police office to accommodate more interrogation space, as per The New York Times.

By late May, the base comprised three detention facilities: hangars where detainees were monitored by military police, adjacent tents where detainees received medical treatment from military doctors, and an interrogation facility in a separate section staffed by intelligence officers from the Israeli military intelligence directorate and the Shin Bet.

Under Israeli legislation, detainees at Sde Teiman were classified as “unlawful combatants” and could be held for up to 75 days without judicial authorization and 90 days without access to legal representation or a trial.

‘Incommunicado detention’

Following initial interrogation at Sde Teiman, detainees suspected of having militant connections are typically transferred to another military facility or a civilian prison. In the civilian justice system, they are expected to be formally charged. In May, the Israeli government informed “Israel’s” Supreme Court that it had initiated criminal proceedings against “hundreds” of individuals detained since October 7, although specifics regarding the number of cases or their status were not provided. Notably, there have been no reported trials for Gazans detained since October, NYT revealed.

Professor Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, an Associate Professor in Law at the University of Bristol, stated that “Israel’s” choice to postpone judicial review for 75 days without granting access to lawyers or the Red Cross “looks to me like a form of incommunicado detention, which itself is a violation of international law.”

Following Bakr’s sudden disappearance in January, his family was left with no means of determining his whereabouts, leading them to presume his death.

Harrowing accounts of abuse and injury: Bleeding ribs, vomiting blood

Inside Sde Teiman, Bakr found himself confined in an open-sided hangar, where he, along with hundreds of others, was compelled to sit handcuffed in silence on a mat for as long as 18 hours a day, as per the investigation. The hangar lacked an external wall, leaving it exposed to the elements, while guards monitored the detainees from the opposite side of a mesh fence.

All detainees wore blindfolds, except for one individual referred to as the “shawish,” meaning sergeant in Arabic. This person served as an intermediary between the soldiers and the prisoners, distributing food and guiding fellow detainees to a cluster of portable toilets situated in the corner of the hangar.

After several weeks, Bakr was appointed as a shawish, granting him a clearer view of his surroundings. His recollection aligns closely with those of other detainees and corresponds with what NYT witnessed during its visit to the site in late May.

Commanders at the facility stated that detainees were permitted to stand every two hours to stretch, sleep between approximately 10 pm and 6 am, and pray at any time. They also mentioned that detainees were not allowed to remove their blindfolds and move freely within the hangars. 

Upon his arrival at Sde Teiman, exhausted from the journey, Bakr inadvertently fell asleep, prompting an officer to summon him to a nearby command room. There, Bakr recounted being physically assaulted by the officer, who called it punishment for sleeping.

Others shared similar accounts of experiencing severe repercussions for minor transgressions. Rafiq Yassin, a 55-year-old builder detained in December, disclosed that he endured repeated beatings to his abdomen after attempting to peek from beneath his blindfold. He reported vomiting blood as a result.

An Israeli soldier who observed mistreatment at a hangar recounted an incident where one detainee was subjected to such severe beating that his ribs bled, purportedly for attempting to peek beneath his blindfold. Another detainee was reportedly beaten for speaking too loudly and frequently.

Abuse persists even in makeshift hospital

Similar to other former detainees, Bakr remembered being provided with three small snacks on most days—typically bread accompanied by limited portions of cheese, jam, or tuna, with occasional servings of cucumbers and tomatoes, The Times reported. The Israeli military claimed that these food provisions were “approved by an authorized nutritionist to maintain their health.”

However, according to multiple former detainees, this was insufficient. Three individuals were said to have lost over 20 kg (40 pounds) during their detention.

Limited medical treatment is available onsite, as per commanders who escorted NYT to an office where they claimed that medics screened each detainee upon arrival and monitored them daily in the hangars. Severe cases receive treatment in nearby tents, serving as a makeshift field hospital.

Within these tents, patients are blindfolded and handcuffed to their beds, as per the investigation.

Physicians for Human Rights, an Israeli rights organization, criticized the field hospital in a report released in April, stating that it was “a low point for medical ethics and professionalism.”

The current administration of the hospital admitted that there had been times when the facility lacked adequate equipment, but emphasized that its medical personnel have consistently demonstrated a high level of experience and expertise.

Two Israelis who visited the hospital last year reported that the medical staff had less experience and access to insufficient equipment. One of them, speaking anonymously to evade persecution, mentioned that patients were not adequately provided with pain relief during painful medical procedures.

Doctors at Sde Teiman, as reported by NYT, were instructed not to include their names on official documents and to avoid addressing each other by name in the presence of patients. One doctor explained that this precaution was due to concerns that they could face accusations of war crimes at the International Criminal Court if identified.

Harrowing tales of torture and interrogation

According to accounts provided to The New York Times, Palestinian detainees, including  Bakr, were placed in a separate area referred to as the “disco room,” where they were subjected to extremely loud music intended to prevent sleep. 

Bakr described this as torture, leading to bleeding from his ear due to the intensity. The Israeli military claimed that the music was not harmful and served to prevent detainees from communicating before interrogation.

Bakr, who was fitted to a diaper, was then taken to another room for questioning. Interrogators accused him of being a member of Hamas, showed him photos of fighters, and inquired about Israeli captives and a senior leader. He affirmed he was repeatedly beaten upon denying involvement.

Additionally, al-Hamlawi, a senior nurse, recounted an incident where he was forced by soldiers to endure a painful ordeal involving a metal rod pressed against his rectum. A leaked UNRWA report mirrored this account, mentioning similar experiences by detainees. Al-Hamlawi also described being subjected to electric shocks while seated in a chair wired with electricity, causing him to stop urinating for several days. Ibrahim Shaheen, another detainee, reported being shocked multiple times while accused of withholding information about captives.

Bakr also mentioned being subjected to electric shocks while seated in a wired chair, causing him to lose consciousness.

‘Are you alive?’

After spending over a month in custody, Bakr recounted to the Times that the Israeli authorities appeared to acknowledge his innocence.

In February, during the early hours of the day, Bakr found himself on a bus bound for Gaza – his release imminent after a month of detention.

Upon his departure, he requested his phone and the 7,200 shekels (approximately $2,000) that had been seized from him during his initial arrest in Gaza, before he reached Sde Teiman.

In response to his inquiry, Bakr said that a soldier struck him and yelled at him. According to Bakr, the soldier stated, “No one should ask about his phone or his money.” 

At dawn, the bus reached the Karem Abu Salem crossing.

After leaving the bus,  Bakr, like other released detainees, walked for about two kilometers until he was met by Red Cross aid workers. They provided him with food and conducted a brief medical assessment. Subsequently, they escorted him to a nearby terminal.

Using a borrowed phone, he contacted his family, who were still 20 miles away in Gaza City.

Bakr expressed that this communication marked the first time his family had heard from him in over a month.

“They asked me, ‘Are you alive?’”