The Commission of Prisoners' Affairs and the Prisoners' Club reviewed new testimonies, adding to the already shocking and horrific record of testimony about the details experienced by Gaza detainees during their arrest, interrogation, and transfer from prison to prison and from camp to camp over the course of several months of detention.

The Commission and the Prisoners' Club revealed the first visits to Gaza detainees in the section located under the Nitzan-Ramla prison, or what is called the "Rakefet" section, which the occupation has designated for prisoners called "elite" prisoners, who are part of those visited and are classified by the occupation as "illegal combatants."

They addressed the systematic crimes committed against Gaza detainees, which were, in their entirety, crimes of torture that they experienced moment by moment since their arrest. These testimonies were obtained through visits, the first of their kind that legal teams were able to conduct recently, during which a group of detainees were visited under strict conditions and a high level of supervision in the "Rakefet" section, located within the Nitzan-Ramla prison.

An underground visit to Gaza detainees in the Rakefet section

In the details of the visit that took place to a group of detainees, the visit began with the legal teams entering the entrance of an old warehouse-like building. A door was opened, which is the entrance to an underground staircase, according to what the lawyers described, full of cockroaches and holes in the ground and walls. The visits took place accompanied by prison guards and under strict supervision, during which the lawyers were informed that it was forbidden to tell the detainees anything related to their families, or anything that was happening outside. Signs of terror and fear were evident on the bodies of the detainees who were visited. At first, there were great difficulties in starting a conversation with any detainee, due to the level of supervision imposed on the visit. However, after attempts made by the lawyers, they were able to reassure the detainees and confirm to them that they were lawyers who had come to visit them.

They reviewed some of the detainees' testimonies, including the shocking details they contained. These are an extension of dozens of testimonies and statements obtained from Gaza detainees since the beginning of the genocide.

The testimony of the detainee (S.J.): “I was arrested in December 2023, and I was immediately transferred to the investigation that lasted for 6 days, which were the most intense and difficult, during which I was subjected to the (disco) and (pampers) investigation, and throughout the 6 days I only heard very loud music, and throughout these days I was forced to use (diapers) to relieve myself, they were changed only twice, and I was deprived of food, and the water was very little, half a cup a day, and throughout the investigation period I was handcuffed and blindfolded, and later I was transferred from the (Sde Teiman) camp to (Ashkelon) prison, where I stayed for 45 days, then I was transferred to the (Moscobiyya) detention center for (85) days, then to (Ofer) prison, and finally to the “Rakefet” section in (Nitzan) prison Ramle.”

The detainee pointed out that the detention conditions in the "Rakefet" section in Ramleh are the most difficult compared to all the prisons he was transferred to during his detention. In each cell, there are three prisoners, one of whom sleeps on the floor. The exit to the "furah" (prison yard) takes place every other day, during which we remain handcuffed, knowing that this area is not exposed to the sun. Throughout their time in the "furah", they are subjected to humiliation and degradation, and they are also forbidden to raise their heads throughout the "furah".

We don't know when the sun rises and when it sets.

Detainee (W.N.): “I was arrested in December 2024. The occupation army interrogated me before transferring me to a camp in the Gaza Strip. I was interrogated by intelligence, threatened, and beaten. Later, I was transferred to Ramla prison. Today, I suffer from health problems and severe pain in my body. What increases my suffering is that we are forced to sit on our knees for long periods. I was also sexually assaulted by being beaten with a scanner on sensitive parts of my body. Today, we are completely isolated from the outside world. We do not know when the sun rises or sets. We are provided with worn and damaged clothes, but we are forced to wear them. We are denied underwear. In addition to all of this, they force us to curse our mothers. We are subjected to beatings and oppression. The beating during my transfer to prison caused one of my fingers to be broken. It is known that the prison guards use the method of breaking fingers, and this has happened to more than one detainee.”

Finger breaking is a method of torturing detainees.

In this context, the detainee (Kh. D.) indicated that he was subjected to a “disco” investigation, and later to an investigation by the occupation intelligence, and this was repeated 3-4 times. They deliberately hung him on a chair for long periods, and threw him on the floor while handcuffed. The investigation continued for 30 days in the cells of Ashkelon prison, and throughout this period he was subjected to severe beatings. Today he suffers from scabies, which he contracted during his detention in Ofer prison, and the disease continued with him after he was transferred to Ramla prison. Today, in addition to scabies, he suffers from severe chest pains that increase in severity as a result of the handcuffing operations that are carried out from behind. The detainee indicated that the prison administration punishes prisoners by breaking their thumbs.

Cameras inside the cells document the detainees' movements around the clock.

“As for the detainee (A.G.), he said: “I was detained for (35) days in the (Sde Timan) camp. I was subjected to a (disco) investigation for five days. When I was arrested, I was suffering from an injury and did not receive any treatment. I had a high fever at the beginning of the detention, and I was screaming all the time from the severity of the pain in my body. In addition, I suffer from heart problems and I lost consciousness several times. They were satisfied with just confirming that I was alive. In the first stage of detention, I did not have clothes or a blanket, so I felt very cold because I was detained in a (barrack) open from several sides, which exacerbated my suffering. For 15 days, my hands were tied and my eyes were blindfolded all the time. Then I was later transferred to the (Rakefet) section in the (Ramla) prison. In all the rooms here, there are cameras that document our movements constantly. We are forbidden from praying, and they threaten us with death all the time. The process of taking us out to the break is an opportunity for the prison guards to assault us with severe beatings and insult us while our hands are tied. We never see the sun, we are forced to curse our mothers, and the jailer decides when and for how long we can shower. Every three days, each cell is given a roll of toilet paper, and the amount of food is very small. We know it's dawn because the jailers pull out the mattresses and blankets.

Rakefet Prison - Ramle is one of the prisons and camps that the occupation has established since the genocide or reopened again to detain detainees from Gaza. The most prominent of them are: (Sde Teiman), (Anatot), (Ofer) camp, (Rakefet), and another camp that was opened for detainees from the West Bank, which is (Manashe) camp. These camps were the most prominent headlines for torture crimes, as the occupation turned them into spaces for torturing detainees physically and psychologically on the spot.

It is noteworthy that the number of Gaza detainees recognized by the Israeli Prison Service as of the beginning of April 2025 amounted to 1,747, classified as "illegal combatants." This figure does not include all Gaza detainees held in Israeli military camps, but only those under the administration of the prisons.