Israeli whistleblowers reveal disturbing conditions for Palestinian detainees at Negev desert camp: Report

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israeli whistleblowers have revealed disturbing conditions at the Sde Teiman desert camp, a military base turned detention center in the Negev desert, according to a report by CNN on Friday.

The facility holds Palestinians detained during Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The whistleblowers, who risk legal repercussions and reprisals from groups supportive of Israel’s hardline policies in Gaza, described detainees held under extreme physical restraint.

“Rows of men in gray tracksuits are seen sitting on paper-thin mattresses, ringfenced by barbed wire. All appear blindfolded, their heads hanging heavy under the glare of floodlights,” said the report, citing whistleblowers. “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 report said detainees are “placed under extreme physical restraint, and a field hospital where wounded detainees are strapped to their beds, wearing diapers and fed through straws.”

One whistleblower, who works as a medic at the facility’s field hospital, said: “They stripped them down of anything that resembles human beings.”

It noted that guards were instructed to silence detainees and to single out “problematic” individuals for punishment.

Another whistleblower said beatings were administered “not for intelligence gathering,” but out of “revenge.”

The whistleblowers’ accounts also raised concerns about medical care at the facility. Another reported “amputated prisoners’ limbs due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing; of medical procedures sometimes performed by underqualified medics,” the report added.

In response to CNN’s request for comment, the Israeli military stated that any allegations of misconduct are “examined and dealt with accordingly.”

The army did not directly deny accounts of detainees being stripped of clothing or held in diapers, but said detainees are “given back their clothing once they are determined to pose no security risk,” said the report.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul