Israel's underground jail, where Palestinians are held without charge and never see daylight

"Israel is holding dozens of Palestinians from Gaza isolated in an underground jail where they never see daylight, are deprived of adequate food and barred from receiving news of their families or the outside world. The detainees include at least two civilians who are being held without charge or trial: a nurse detained in his scrubs, and a young food seller, according to lawyers from the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) who represent both men."

"Rakefet prison was opened in the early 1980s to house a handful of the most dangerous organised crime figures in Israel but closed a few years later on the grounds that it was inhumane. The far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, ordered it back into service after the 7 October attacks in 2023. The cells, a tiny exercise yard and a lawyers' meeting room are all underground, so inmates live without any natural light."

"Under the ceasefire agreed in mid-October, Israel released 1,700 Palestinian detainees from Gaza who had been held indefinitely without charge or trial, as well as 250 Palestinian prisoners who had been convicted in Israeli courts. However, the scale of detentions has been so vast that even after that mass release, at least 1,000 others are still held by Israel under the same conditions."

Dozens of Palestinians from Gaza are held isolated in an underground prison where inmates never see daylight, receive inadequate food, and are barred from news of their families. Two civilians — a nurse arrested in his scrubs and a young food seller — are held without charge or trial and report beatings consistent with documented torture. Rakefet prison was reopened after the 7 October 2023 attacks by security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir despite its 1980s closure for inhumane conditions. The facility was designed for 15 inmates but now houses about 100. Following mid-October releases of 1,700 detainees, more than 1,000 remain held in conditions PCATI says violate international humanitarian law and amount to torture.

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