Haaretz: ‘Israeli prisons have become centers of systematic torture for Palestinians’
QUDS, May 28 (YPA) – The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz has published a sharply critical editorial addressing the treatment of Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli occupation’s prisons, warning that detention facilities have effectively become centers for systematic torture.
The newspaper stated that conditions inside the prisons can no longer be concealed, arguing that organized methods of abuse and mistreatment are being carried out against Palestinian detainees.
According to the editorial, information about prison conditions remained under heavy media blackout following the events of October 7, 2023, but later testimonies and leaked materials revealed what it described as a “shocking reality” of violations.
Haaretz referred to video footage allegedly showing soldiers from an occupation military unit assaulting a Palestinian prisoner, noting that investigations into such incidents are frequently closed without meaningful accountability, while public debate often shifts toward the leaking of the footage rather than the violations themselves.
The newspaper also criticized the Israeli occupation’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for publishing images showing Palestinian prisoners bound and lying on the ground, describing the act as a degrading political exploitation of detainees.
The editorial further cited human rights and media reports documenting cases of physical and psychological abuse, sexual assaults, and the deprivation of food and medical care, which it said contributed to severe deterioration in prisoners’ health conditions.
Haaretz additionally condemned restrictions placed on visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the occupation’s prisons, warning that the lack of independent oversight has increased concerns over abuses inside detention facilities.
Concluding its editorial, the newspaper questioned whether Israeli prisons have effectively turned into “torture camps” under current policies, arguing that the reported violations no longer appear to be isolated incidents but rather part of a broader and systematic pattern protected by official institutions.
AA