135 mutilated bodies from desert prison

Israel

Gaza officials: Mutilated bodies came from notorious desert prison

Filip Elofsson

Updated 23.20 | Published 23.00

 

An undated photo from 2023, provided by a whistleblower group, is said to show Palestinian prisoners at the Sde Teiman military base. Photo: AP

The Israeli prison at the Sde Teiman military base has been accused of torture and several unlawful deaths.

Israel has now handed over more than a hundred mutilated Palestinian bodies to Gaza.

At least 135 of the bodies come from the notorious prison, The Guardian reports.

As part of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, all bodies of the Israeli hostages will be handed over. Israel will also return the bodies of a large number of Palestinian prisoners.

The exchange has been ongoing since both sides signed the peace agreement, and on Monday evening another body of a deceased hostage was handed over to the Israeli army, Reuters reports, citing Prime Minister Netanyahu's staff.

Israel recently handed over about a hundred mutilated bodies that Gaza officials say had been held at the notorious Sde Teiman military base, The Guardian reports.

Palestinska fångar med ögonbindel vid militärbasen. Arkivbild. Foto: APPalestinian prisoners with blindfolds at the military base. Archive photo. Photo: AP

The bodies have been taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for examination, and according to a spokesman for the hospital and the director-general of the Gaza Health Ministry, Dr. Munir al-Bursh, there were documents in the body bags indicating that the bodies had been returned from the military base.

Locked in cages

The base is located in the Negev Desert, and according to a number of photos and testimonies previously published by The Guardian, Palestinian prisoners have been locked in cages with handcuffs and blindfolds. They have also been chained to hospital beds and forced to use diapers.

The Israeli army launched an internal criminal investigation last year after 36 prisoners died at Sde Teiman. The investigation is still ongoing.

 

Israeli soldiers gather at the gate of the Sde Teiman military base. Archive image. Photo: Tsafrir Abayov/AP

According to The Guardian, there is extensive evidence that several Palestinians have been executed, but it is difficult to determine the circumstances under which they died. The military base is both a storage facility for bodies taken from Gaza and a prison.

Sde Teiman has been under scrutiny 

several fimes for deaths 

and abuse of prisoners.

The IDF has previously said that reports of torture and ill-treatment at the military base are false and that any misconduct by Israeli soldiers is being investigated.