Im Bericht werden einige der in Israel teils seit Jahrzehnten gängigen Folterpraktiken aufgezählt: die Opfer werden oft tage- oder wochenlanger Isolationshaft ausgesetzt, sie werden in käfigähnlichen Einrichtungen festgehalten, über längere Zeit nackt ausgezogen und müssen Windeln tragen. Zudem werden ihre Augen verbunden und der Entzug von Nahrung, Wasser, Schlaf und medizinischer Behandlung sind an der Tagesordnung. Hinzukommt Folter mit elektrischen Schocks, dem Verbrennen mit Zigaretten, mit Waterboarding (simuliertem Ertrinken) und dem Aufhängen an den Händen oder Füßen an der Decke. Die Rede ist außerdem von Hunden, die auf Gefangene losgelassen wurden – und immer wieder auch von sexueller und geschlechtsspezifischer Gewalt. Inzwischen existieren mehrere Berichte, dass Hunde für die sexuelle Folter Gefangener eingesetzt wurden.[4] Anlässlich der Veröffentlichung des Berichts sprach der UN-Menschenrechtsbauftragte Volker Türk, der zugleich auch die palästinensische Autonomiebehörde wegen willkürlicher Verhaftungen, Folter und Misshandlungen kritisierte und bewaffnete palästinensische Gruppen wegen des 7.Oktober verurteilte, von eklatanten Verletzungen der internationalen Menschenrechtsnormen und des humanitären Völkerrechts seitens Israel.
Archiv: Folter / torture
WATCH: Palestinian teen says he was tortured in settler kidnapping
Palestinian teenager Oweis Hemam says he was kidnapped and tortured by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Watch the 18-year-old’s account below.
IDF probing reservists who allegedly beat Palestinian teen, causing ‘disturbing’ injuries
(December 6, 2025)
A military source claimed that Hamam was suffering from a mental illness.
Soldiers of the IDF’s so-called area defense forces, known by its Hebrew acronym Hagmar — made up of local settlers in reserve duty — who were already in the area, alongside Sde Ephraim’s security coordinator, called on the man to leave, the army said.
According to the military, the reservist soldiers fired in the air, but the suspect continued to approach them. “The reserve soldiers struggled with the suspect physically until they were able to arrest him,” the IDF said.
Dick Cheney may be gone, but the wars he waged are forever
(November 8, 2025)
As Bush‘s vice president, Cheney became a key architect of the US „war on terror“, which included the 2002 invasion of Afghanistan, the 2003 war on Iraq, and sweeping intelligence, surveillance and torture programmes.
Most notoriously, Cheney helped the Bush administration construct an elaborate double lie as a pretext for the invasion of Iraq.
(…)
Cheney‘s true legacy, then, lies not only in the „war on terror“ he helped engineer, but in the political and moral infrastructure he left behind.
More than two decades later, his post-9/11 world order – defined by endless wars, government overreach and impunity – endures, and today‘s war criminals, following in his path, roam free.
Death Sentence for Palestinians in Custody | New Report and Testimonies
Our latest report reveals that over the past two years, up to August 2025, at least 94 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention facilities. Yet, the report stresses that this unprecedented figure likely represents only a portion of the full death toll. Given the Israeli military’s practice of enforced disappearances since October 2023, the actual number of deaths may be considerably higher. Moreover, since the report was completed, four more Palestinians have died in the past month alone, pushing the total close to triple digits – deaths caused by the systemic denial of medical care and the torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody. These policies persist even now, despite the ceasefire in Gaza.
The report is based on 94 documented cases between October 7, 2023, and August 2025. This unprecedented toll, together with extensive findings and evidence of deaths caused by torture and medical neglect, points to a deliberate Israeli policy of killing Palestinians in custody.
At least 46 Palestinians died in Israel Prison Service (IPS) facilities, and 52 more died in military custody.
The Trial of Galileo: An Account
The trial by the Congregation moved to its conclusion. Several of the ten cardinals apparently pushed for Galileo‘s incarceration in prison, while those more supportive of Galileo argued that–with changes–the Dialogue ought to continue to be allowed to circulate. In the end, a majority of the cardinals–rejecting much of the Commissary‘s agreement with Galileo–demanded Galileo „even with the threat of torture…abjure in a plenary assembly of the Congregation of the Holy Office…[and] then be condemned to imprisonment at the pleasure of the Holy Congregation.“ Moreover, the cardinals declared, the Dialogue „is to be prohibited.“
The grand play ran its course, with the Pope insisting upon a formal sentence, a tough examination of Galileo, public abjuration, and „formal prison.“ Galileo was forced to appear once again for formal questioning about his true feelings concerning the Copernican system. Galileo obliged, so as not to risk being branded a heretic, testifying that „I held, as I still hold, as most true and indisputable, the opinion of Ptolemy, that is to say, the stability of the Earth and the motion of the Sun.“ Galileo‘s renunciation of Copernicanism ended with the words, „I affirm, therefore, on my conscience, that I do not now hold the condemned opinion and have not held it since the decision of authorities….I am here in your hands–do with me what you please.“
Legal team presents new evidence of torture of Palestinian prisoners to ICC
New evidence regarding the torture of Palestinian prisoners whose mutilated bodies were returned by Israel was presented at the International Criminal Court by a legal team representing the victims of the genocide in Gaza.
Al Jazeera Arabic reported that evidence regarding the targeting of journalists was added to the ongoing series of legal efforts to prosecute Israel in the International court since 2008.
According to the report, documented medical evidence was presented by doctors and forensic experts through detailed reports, photos, videos, and family testimonies.
Arrest of top whistleblower shows extent of Israeli impunity over torture of Palestinian detainees
The arrest of Tomer-Yerushalmi, who was, until her resignation last week, Israel’s military advocate general, is the latest development in a dramatic scandal that has been unfolding since February 2024.
It started with a complaint filed by a doctor who had served in the medical facility next to the Sde Teiman detention camp in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Professor Yoel Donchin reported that a detainee appeared to have been a victim of a severe assault. The detainee arrived at the hospital showing signs of beating and possible brutal sexual assault.
Both sides of the Sde Teiman leak debate reflect Israel’s moral decay
(November 7, 2025)
Over the past two years, Maj. Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi — the official responsible for all internal investigations and legal enforcement in the Israeli army — has almost entirely refrained from probing the countless, well-documented allegations against its soldiers. The Sde Teiman guards’ crime, however, as captured in the leaked video, was apparently so blatant and grotesque that authorities had no choice but to issue indictments.
When Israeli military police arrived at Sde Teiman to arrest the suspects, however, they were met by right-wing rioters and soldiers, including several members of Knesset hiding behind their immunity. Attempting to block the arrests, they insisted that the perpetrators did nothing wrong and that their actions were merely part of the Israeli war effort.
Tomer-Yerushalmi leaked the video of the rape soon after, and it quickly spread online. Protests by right-wing Israelis in support of the abusers grew in turn. But while many around the world were aghast at what could only be described as “right to rape” protests, the discussion in Israel quickly faded in favor of daily news of “successes” on the Gazan front. The case was largely forgotten for months, until the investigation into the video’s leak was announced last week.
Israeli media airs footage showing alleged sexual abuse of Palestinian detainee – video
(August 8, 2024)
A spokesperson for Israel’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz spoke to Yoel Donchin, the doctor who treated the prisoner in the incident who said he suffered from „a ruptured bowel, a severe injury to his anus, lung damage and broken ribs“.
Israeli military‘s top lawyer resigns over leak of video allegedly showing abuse of Palestinian detainee
(October 31, 2025)
After her resignation was accepted by the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Katz put out a statement welcoming the decision.
„Anyone who spreads blood libels against IDF troops is unfit to wear the army‘s uniform,“ he said.
The leaked video was broadcast on the Israeli Channel 12 news in August 2024.
The footage shows soldiers at Sde Teiman taking aside a detainee, then surrounding him with riot shields to block visibility while he was stabbed in the rectum with a sharp object. The detainee was treated for severe injuries.
Clear evidence of brutal torture: Condition of Palestinian bodies released from Israeli prisons demands urgent int’l investigation
(October 16, 2025)
Euro-Med Monitor’s field team monitored the Israeli authorities’ handover of the bodies of 120 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), delivered in three consecutive batches: 45 on Tuesday, 45 on Wednesday, and 30 on Thursday, including dozens of unidentified remains.
Medical examinations, forensic reports, and observations by the field team revealed conclusive evidence that many victims were killed after being detained. Their bodies bore clear marks of hanging, rope imprints around their necks, injuries from close-range gunfire, bound hands and feet with plastic restraints, and blindfolds. Some bodies were crushed under tank tracks, while others showed severe signs of physical torture, fractures, burns, and deep wounds.
Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said: “The bodies we received were bound like animals, blindfolded, and bore horrific signs of torture and burns that reveal the extent of the crimes committed in secret. They did not die naturally; they were executed after being restrained. These people were not buried underground, they were kept in the occupation’s refrigerators for long months.”
Forensic teams uncover signs of torture, decomposition on bodies returned by Israel
Forensic teams have reported horrific conditions endured by these Palestinians. Some of the bodies show visible signs of torture, while others have arrived in a decomposed state. This raises serious questions about the circumstances of their deaths, as Israel has not provided further details regarding their ages, names or how they died.
At the moment, the Health Ministry is continuing ground preparations, and it is possible the burials will take place in the city of Deir el-Balah.
Forensic tests confirm torture on bodies of 54 Palestinians returned by Israel, says Gaza officials
Gaza authorities condemned these acts, describing them as „horrific crimes,“ and called on international organisations to pursue justice. The statement urged global institutions to hold those responsible for these „massacres“ accountable under international law.
‘Physical and psychological torture was the highlight last two years’ : Mohammad Dahleh
Mohammad Dahleh, a human rights lawyer, says “the motive for revenge” among the Israeli society was strong after the October 7, 2023 attack, and the country’s prison authority acted with the same motive towards inmates.
He said the Israeli prison system started beating and torturing prisoners right after the attack.
“They also prevented prisoners from sleeping and worshipping,” Dahleh told Al Jazeera from the occupied East Jerusalem, adding that many prisoners were deprived of medical treatment, which led to deaths in jails.
‘When I woke up, I realised I had lost my sight’: Released Palestinian detainee recounts torture
Mahmoud Abu Foul, 28, lost his leg in a 2015 Israeli bombing and was arrested late last year at Kamal Adwan Hospital.
He endured eight months of severe torture in Israeli custody, including with iron tools and electric shocks, which left him blind after a coma. Released recently, he remains without eye treatment and is now living in a tent in Gaza near ruins.
What we know about the torture, abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israel
Naji Abbas, director of the prisoners and detainees department for Physicians for Human Rights Israel, said his organisation was “not surprised” at the condition of the bodies released.
“We have recorded hundreds of instances of torture and deaths in the Israeli prison system, dozens of Palestinians who have been killed, beaten to death, or have died after being refused treatment for months,” Abbas said.
One autopsy the organisation examined showed signs of violence on the body eight months after the person died, he added.
“These are documented cases of detainees’ bodies with clear signs of torture and of having been brutally restrained before death, and still it is not on every television and in every newspaper,” Abbas said.
Hospital chief who became face of the struggle to treat patients in Gaza still held by Israel
Despite widespread calls for his release, Abu Safiya was not among the hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners freed Monday in exchange for 20 hostages held by Hamas. Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been imprisoned without charge by Israel for nearly 10 months.
Fifty-five healthcare workers from Gaza are listed for release from Israeli detention today, while Israel continues to hold at least 115 more captives
(October 13, 2025)
While their release is warmly welcomed, there are at least 115 more Gazan healthcare workers who are still being held in Israeli detention. These include at least 20 doctors, of whom 15 are irreplaceable senior specialists. In the past two years, the Israeli Occupation Forces have unlawfully detained over 409 Palestinian healthcare workers from both Gaza and the West Bank. Testimonies from released healthcare workers and other Palestinians describe the horrific conditions inside the detention facilities where brutality and torture are rife[1]. Five healthcare workers have been killed while in detention.
Gaza Flotilla Update: U.K. Journalist Describes “Torturous Conditions” in Israeli Custody
So, I was dragged out of the boat by my collar and chucked on the floor, cut my knee open. And the first thing I saw as we were dragged out, or I was dragged out, was 300 people kneeling with their hands behind their backs, facing straight down at the concrete, outside of the Port of Ashdod. They were forced to stay there, in some cases, for six hours. I was forced to stay there for about two-and-a-half hours on my knees with my hands behind my back, before I was processed in the Ashdod center and sent to the prison in the Negev Desert, which we can get onto the conditions of in a moment.
At that point, Ben-Gvir, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was brought out so that he could parade in front of us. And I think the assumption — and I want to emphasize this — I think the assumption was that we would be cowed, that we would be fearful, that we would stay quiet. And actually, that’s not what happened. And what happened sets the tone for what then carried on in the prison, which is that everybody, as soon as we saw Ben-Gvir, 300 people on their knees — in fear, no doubt — started shouting, “Free Palestine! Free Palestine!” calling him a génocidaire and a baby killer and so on. And he was really shocked. You could see that Ben-Gvir was stunned by that. His people, the police, they were all stunned by it. They expected us to be cowed, and we weren’t.
The US Media Ignores Palestinian Deaths in Israeli Captivity
(October 4, 2025)
There are currently some 3,613 Palestinians under administrative detention in Israeli prisons, according to the July 2025 CDA report, and more than ten thousand Palestinians in Israeli custody (not including those held in military camps) in total. Even Israel’s own military intelligence only identifies a quarter of its detainees from Gaza as “fighters,” while human rights groups and Israeli soldiers have reported even fewer — roughly 15 percent — as Hamas members.
The CDA reports that Tazaz’a was the seventy-sixth identified Palestinian to die in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023.
Mainstream Media Is Ignoring Israel’s Sexual Torture
(August 17, 2024)
For the past few weeks, Israel has been caught up in a scandal around torture at its Sde Teiman detention camp involving an act so nauseatingly heinous, you should only keep reading if you have a strong stomach.
Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps
“Welcome to Hell” is a report on the abuse and inhuman treatment of Palestinians held in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023. B’Tselem collected testimonies from 55 Palestinians held during that time and released, almost all with no charges. Their testimonies reveal the outcomes of the rushed transformation of more than a dozen Israeli prison facilities, military and civilian, into a network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates as a matter of policy. Facilities in which every inmate is deliberately subjected to harsh, relentless pain and suffering operate as de-facto torture camps.
Mansoor Adayfi, a former Guantánamo prisoner who spent years on a hunger strike and faced brutal force-feeding to protest his imprisonment and torture, is now advocating for T. Hoxha — who is on her 3rd week of hunger strike inside prison.
(August 29, 2025)
He called the prison today and reminded them of their duty of care and demanded an independent medical assessment, warning that her health is at serious risk.
Take action now:
✉️ Email the prison today and demand T is transferred to a hospital for independent health monitoring: RALPH.LUBKOWSKI(at)sodexogov.co.uk
Call the prison: 01733 217500 and insist she is taken to a hospital, not left in the prison medical wing.
Comment “template” to receive our email draft and call for her urgent transfer.
‘Next time, we’ll tattoo a Star of David on your face’
In February, Palestinian prisoners released as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement were forced to wear shirts emblazoned with the Star of David, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) logo, and the phrase “We will not forget and we will not forgive” in Arabic.
Now, a Jewish-Israeli detainee in IPS custody has also been subjected to this humiliating practice: IPS officers compelled left-wing activist Itamar Greenberg, who was arrested last Sunday, May 24 at an anti-war protest, to wear a shirt with the inscription “Am Yisrael Chai” (“The Nation of Israel Lives”). During his detention, they also cursed at him, and threatened that next time they would tattoo a Star of David on his face — as had previously been done to a Palestinian detainee from East Jerusalem.
The four ICC judges sanctioned by the US for Palestine and Afghanistan work
The ICC has a total of 18 judges who serve in different chambers, including the Pre-Trial, Trial and Appeals chambers.
Judges are nominated by state parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, and then elected by the Assembly of States Parties, the court‘s governing body.
Judges must demonstrate high moral character, impartiality and integrity, meeting the qualifications required in their home countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices.
Once elected, ICC judges serve a non-renewable nine-year term.
Below are the profiles of the four judges sanctioned by the Trump administration on 5 June 2025.
Taxi to the Dark Side⎜WHY DEMOCRACY?⎜(Documentary)
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Taxi to the Dark Side | movie | 2009 | Official Trailer
An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay
State Dept. Imposes Sanctions on International Criminal Court Judges
The State Department said that Ms. Bossa and Ms. Ibáñez Carranza had ruled to authorize the court’s investigation against U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. While they participated in an appeals decision that opened the way for that investigation, the court’s pursuit of the American role in Afghanistan was eventually dropped. Mr. Khan announced soon after taking office in 2021 that he would not pursue accusations of torture carried out by U.S. military and C.I.A. personnel in Afghanistan and at so-called black sites in other countries. No formal investigations of specific U.S. personnel have taken place, nor have warrants been issued.
Palestinian detainee from Bethlehem dies in Israeli custody
According to the Commission and PPS, Radaydeh is the second detainee to be declared dead in Israeli custody within four days. Following his detention and critical injury, he was held for a period at Israel’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where, according to available data and visitation records, his condition had later stabilized.
With Radaydeh’s death, the number of prisoners and detainees who have died since the beginning of the genocide has risen to 65, whose identities are known. At least 40 of these detainees are from Gaza.
This period has been the deadliest in the history of the Palestinian prisoner movement since 1967. As a result, the total number of Palestinian detainees who have died in Israeli prisons since 1967 has risen to 302. Meanwhile, the bodies of 74 deceased prisoners remain withheld, including 63 who died since the start of the genocide.
It is important to note that many detainees from Gaza remain subject to the crime of enforced disappearance.