In February of this year, the Israeli army entered Al-Shifa Hospital and arrested the Palestinian citizen from Gaza, Rami, without charge. The 42-year-old was then taken to the Sde Teman detention center – Guantanamo Israel – where he, like thousands of Gazans detained there, was subjected to serious violations at the hands of the guards. .
When he thought that salvation was near, he was transferred to the Ofer military detention center located between occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank, only to find that it was no less brutal than the previous detainee.
This is how photojournalist Oren Ziv began his report in the Israeli magazine 972, where he talked about the atrocities of the camp based on the statements of 19 Gazan citizens, some of whom are still detained and were unable to give their testimonies except through the lawyers of the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked.
According to the report, Israel established the Ofer Military Center in the West Bank during the current war on Gaza, and the detainees’ lawyers thought it was a temporary prison leading to civilian prisons, or even to the well-known Ofer Prison located next to it, but some have still been detained since May without charge.
Violations
The report confirmed, based on the testimonies of detainees, that the Ofer camp is the successor to the Sde Timan prison and is equally bad, and that after the prison received global attention and widespread criticism, it was transformed into a “transit camp” from which Gazans leave either to Gaza or to the famous Ofer prison, and because it is an unknown center like the prison. In addition, it gives the Israeli authorities leeway to continue their violations against detainees.
The Gazans in Ofer told the magazine that they were subjected to severe beatings on a daily basis, stressing that the guards enjoyed it. One of the detainees was beaten to death. They also confirmed their suffering from constant humiliation and severe overcrowding, which led to skin diseases.
Rami told the magazine that detainees usually spend their days with their hands and legs shackled, including while sleeping, eating, and using the bathroom, and they can only shower once a week or every 3 weeks for a few minutes, during which they wash their clothes.
Starving
One detainee reported that he had to shower with floor cleaner, and that prisoners were given one roll of paper towels to share.
Al-Ghazi Rafiq, 59 years old, also reported the scarcity of food and its poor quality. He said that the detainees were given one meal a day consisting of slices of stale bread, stressing that he “lost 43 kilograms during the period of detention due to the lack of food.”
A 32-year-old Gazan detainee, who was arrested in Al-Shifa Hospital, reported that “all the prisoners lost at least 20 to 30 kilograms of weight.”
Rafiq continued: “I was subjected to the same humiliation, insults, and torture that I was subjected to in Sadi Timan. My hands were paralyzed from the constant torture. I had to resort to psychiatric medications after I left, and I walked dozens of kilometers every day until I exhausted myself and could sleep.”
nightmare
According to the report, some Gazans did not learn that they were in the Ofer detention center until interviews with their lawyers weeks or even months after detention, and detainees are usually subjected to a very brief legal procedure consisting of a 3-minute hearing via the Zoom application, during which they are charged with “… Supporting terrorism,” and informing them that they are being detained until “the end of the war.”
A 66-year-old teacher told the magazine that he was arrested from his home in Rafah in May 2024 on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization, and he did not learn that he was in Ofer until October.
A 48-year-old father of three, who was arrested in March 2024 from his home in Gaza, said that Israeli soldiers told him: “We know that you have nothing to do with the October 7 operation, but we are sure that you have information about the Hamas movement.” “.
According to one of the detainees (26 years old), prisoners only leave their cells to meet with lawyers, and during that time everyone in the cell is taken out, handcuffed, blindfolded, and forced to lie on their stomachs for the duration of the visit, until the interviews have become a nightmare for everyone.
