IN his long ordeal, beginning with the traps of the Netzarim Corridor, through the barracks surrounding Gaza, to the interrogation centers in Ofer Prison, and finally to the last stage of detention in the notorious underground Rakefet Prison in the occupied city of Ramleh, the freed Palestinian detainee M.N. reveals, in a testimony documented by the Asra Media, the scale of humiliation, torture, and brutal practices carried out by Israeli jailers upon Palestinians abducted from the Gaza Strip.
M.N. begins his testimony by saying that “words must reach the ears of living consciences, perhaps they can help save what remains of the prisoners’ bodies there.”
He recounts his suffering from the moment of arrest:
“On November 16, 2023, I was arrested by Israeli forces at what I call the Trap Crossing, the so-called ‘safe corridor’ at the Netzarim checkpoint, as the occupation refers to it.”
He describes his initial detention as degrading and inhumane: constant searches, humiliation, and verbal abuse. The transfer from the Netzarim Corridor to the barracks in Gaza, he says, was “disgraceful and degrading—unfit even for animals.”
“The young men [abducted by the forces] were blindfolded, handcuffed, and shackled. They were forced to kneel, forbidden to speak or move,” he recalls.
M.N. considers himself fortunate to have spent only one day in those barracks, praying for the prisoners who remained there under torture.
He continues: “After that, I was transferred to Ofer Prison, where the interrogation phase began and lasted about six weeks. It was an extremely harsh period. The interrogators used a lie detector, deceiving us into believing our answers were false in order to extract further confessions.”
Sections 23 and 10 in Ofer Prison
M.N. explains that Gaza prisoners were held in two sections within Ofer Prison:
“Section 23 was designated for new detainees, where they were treated with brutal cruelty. You could constantly hear cursing and beatings, three times a day, resulting in bleeding and injuries without any medical attention. We were denied the right to bathe, change clothes, or receive sufficient food.”
As for Section 10, the isolation section, he describes it as follows:
“It contained five small rooms designed for two or three people, but during the war, around thirty detainees were crammed inside, an average of eight per room of no more than three meters in size, including the toilet.”
The walls were crumbling, dampness seeped in during the winter, unbearable heat filled the rooms in the summer, and cleanliness was nonexistent.
“The occupation forces shackled every two prisoners together by their legs from 4 a.m. until after midnight. We could only sleep for four hours on filthy, damp mattresses that were insufficient for everyone.”
Rakefet Prison, the Underground Prison
He describes Ofer as “one station of hell that paved the way for something far worse.” On September 10, 2024, a new isolation section known as Rakefet was opened, located underground within Nitzan Prison in the occupied city of Ramleh.
“Around 28 to 30 prisoners from Section 10 in Ofer were transferred to Rakefet under brutal conditions, beaten and suspended from the moment they arrived. Later, 40 to 45 more prisoners from Section 23 were transferred under similar circumstances.”
“Our arrival felt like a saga of agony, bleeding, wounds, fractures, and torture beyond description. The suffering continued there, humiliation, beatings, starvation, and sleep deprivation, in a facility containing 25 rooms, each no larger than 3×2 meters. The rooms barely fit two people, yet four prisoners were crammed inside, one forced to sleep on the floor.”
From 4 a.m. until midnight, the mattresses were removed, and the prisoners were forced to sit on rough flooring “deliberately designed to inflict pain.”
“We sat on our knees, our heads bowed to the ground. The direct encounters with the jailers were the worst, they handcuffed us from behind every day under the pretext of inspections, moving us between rooms or leaving us in place while beating and insulting us.”
Regarding what the Israeli jailers called recreation time, fura, M.N. says:
“It was not a break as prisoners understand it, but rather a room slightly larger than a cell, with no sunlight, no air, and no light, where we remained handcuffed. We were forbidden from praying, whether in congregation or alone, and even from reading the Qur’an or whispering a prayer. The jailers deprived us of any form of relief and punished us if we called out to them or requested anything.”
Deliberate Medical Neglect
The released prisoner affirms that medical care in Rakefet was “nonexistent”:
“When a prisoner’s condition deteriorated, a doctor was brought only after a long delay, and even then, no proper treatment was provided. Skin infections and scabies spread widely among the prisoners due to neglect. We were forced to insult our leaders, families, and honor. The guards frequently sprayed pepper gas inside the rooms, regardless of those suffering from respiratory diseases or chronic conditions. The elderly and the chronically ill lived in truly tragic circumstances.” — QNN
