Testimonies of Torture: Occupation Soldiers Force Palestinian Detainees to Drink Alcohol, Pour Boiling Water on Them

Issued by the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Ramallah, occupied Palestine – Following lawyers’ visits to several Israeli occupation prisons in July 2025, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) publish a short report highlighting the horrific testimonies gathered from Palestinian political detainees abducted from the occupied Gaza Strip.

These testimonies once again reflect the unprecedented level of crimes they endured during their arrest and interrogation, in addition to their current conditions of detention, which include severe medical violations, systematic starvation, and continuous assault and abuse inside detention centers and camps that have resulted in the killing of dozens of detainees while many others remain victims of enforced disappearances.

The legal teams obtained these brief testimonies during visits to the following detention centers: Naqab (Negev), Ofer, Sde Teiman, and the Russian Compound (Al-Maskoubiyyeh) in occupied Jerusalem.

One testimony included an account of guards pouring boiling water on a detainee’s body, while another described being forced to strip naked and then violently beaten. One detainee reported being forced to drink alcohol, and another was subjected to psychological torture that led him to attempt suicide after an interrogator falsely informed him that his family had been killed — only to later learn that his family was safe. Another detainee was attacked by a police dog, resulting in injury.

Detainee (M.Y): "They poured boiling water onto my body"

"I was arrested in February 2024 and subject to field interrogation, then transferred to Sde Teiman military camp for 25 days, then to a camp near Jerusalem, later to Ofer Prison, and then to Naqab Prison. Throughout this period, I was subjected to all forms of torture. When I was transferred to Naqab Prison, boiling water was poured onto my body.

Today I am held in the tent section of the Naqab Prison, where 27 detainees are held in each tent in extremely harsh conditions. We suffer from constant assault, starvation, and daily humiliation. The food is inedible, so we are forced to fast all day and save it for one meal in the evening. We are also denied treatment, even for scabies, which many detainees have contracted and which has worsened due to the lack of hygiene and the absence of preventive and curative measures."

Detainee (M.Y): "I was stripped naked and forced to drink alcohol"

"I was arrested in February 2024 from the safe passage in Gaza, then transferred to the Gaza envelope area for 25 days, and after that to a camp near Jerusalem, then to Ofer Camp, where I stayed for 60 days, and then to Naqab Prison. In the Gaza envelope, I was beaten with a sharp object, and my wound required [surgical] staples which remained in my head for 119 days, causing a scalp infection. In the camp near Jerusalem, I was completely stripped and forced to drink alcohol."

Detainee (H.N): "I attempted suicide after the interrogator told me my family [in Gaza] had been killed"

"I was arrested in December 2024 via the [Israeli army] Civil Administration checkpoint. I was severely beaten and stripped of my clothes. The interrogator told me that the occupation army had killed all my family members, which caused me a severe psychological crisis that drove me to attempt suicide inside the cell. I would have died if not for the intervention of my fellow detainees. During my visit, the lawyer told me that my family is fine. I broke down in tears and couldn’t believe what I heard."

Detainee (H.D): "We live in constant fear and terror around the clock"

"I was arrested in October 2024 via the [Israeli army] Civil Administration checkpoint. I was subject to field interrogation, then held in the barracks in the Gaza envelope for 110 days before being transferred to Naqab Prison. We continue to live under extremely harsh conditions, facing daily inspections, assaults, and humiliation. They force us to sit on our knees with our hands behind our backs during what they call the 'count – security check.' Diseases are widespread, and fear and terror never leave us, in addition to being denied medical treatment and deliberately starved."

Detainee (A.W): "I suffered severe eyesight damage due to beatings"

"I was arrested in February 2024 from a school in Khan Younis, where the occupation army arrested more than 100 citizens. I was transferred to the barracks for 23 days, then to a detention center near Jerusalem, then to Ofer Prison, and later to Naqab Prison. During the transfer from Ofer to Naqab, I was struck on the head with handcuffs, which caused severe impairment in my left eye, persistent headaches, and loss of balance. I also contracted scabies, which returned after I recovered due to the unsanitary conditions."

Detainee (Kh.Y): "My leg was broken and I received no treatment"

"I was arrested in December 2023 from a school in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood after displacement. I was transferred to the barracks in the Gaza envelope, then to Naqab Prison. During the arrest, I was severely beaten, which caused a fracture in my right ankle joint. I did not receive any treatment despite the intense pain — not even painkillers. I suffer from difficulty walking and constant pain."

Detainee (H.R): "I was attacked by a police dog that tore into my foot"

"I was arrested in October 2024 from Rafah and subject to field interrogation, then stripped of my clothes. A police dog attacked me and bit into my foot. I was later transferred to the Gaza envelope, where I was subjected to 'disco interrogation' method* and other interrogations by intelligence officers, then to Ofer camp, and then to the Russian Compound (Al-Maskoubiyyeh) cells, where I was placed in solitary confinement for four months and subjected to military interrogations in Asqalan. Just a week ago, I was brutally beaten with batons."

*Disco interrogation is a method employed by the Israeli prison forces and was used in Guantanamo to pressure to detainees to make confessions, in which they expose the detainee to very loud music or sounds for prolonged periods of time causing disorientation.

Key Facts About Palestinian Political Detainees Abducted From Gaza:

• Since the genocide in October 2023, human rights organizations have been unable to obtain the exact number of those abducted from Gaza due to the crime of enforced disappearance. However, the number is estimated to be in the thousands.
• The testimonies of detainees taken from Gaza are the most severe, given the scale of crimes committed against them.
• The Israeli occupation has established new camps specifically for holding detainees abducted from Gaza. The most prominent include: Sde Teiman, Anatot, Ofer Camp, Naftali, and the Rakevet section under Ramla Prison.
• The majority of detainees taken from Gaza are held in Naqab Prison and Ofer Prison/Camp.
• According to the Israeli Prison Service, as of early July 2025, the number of Gaza detainees classified as "unlawful combatants" (held without trial or charge) reached 2,454 people— the highest figure recorded since the beginning of the genocide. This number doesnot include those held in army camps, but only those under the management of the Israeli Prison Service.
• The "Unlawful Combatant Law" serves as a main tool for legitimizing the crime of enforced disappearance. It also fundamentally violates international law in both its structure and substance and facilitates the widespread use of torture against Gaza detainees.

In this context, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society affirm that the occupation continues its extermination and crimes in full view of the world, without any meaningful change that might contribute to halting the genocide and the comprehensive aggression against our people. One form of this is the ongoing crimes against prisoners and detainees. Moreover, the continued passage of time while the genocide goes on means that the state of paralysis afflicting human rights organizations has gone beyond mere failure — prompting a necessary question about the purpose of the human rights system itself, especially as the reality of Israeli exceptionalism on the international stage continues to expand.

----ENDS---