Jerusalem (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Israel holds Gaza residents in Rakefet underground jail, depriving them of daylight, food, and reporting abuse and torture since January 2025.
As reported by The Guardian, Israel confines dozens of Palestinians from Gaza in an underground prison, cutting them off from daylight, adequate food, and updates about family or the outside world.
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel said at least two civilians, including a nurse and a young food seller, are being held at Rakefet without charges or trial.
Since January, the two men have remained in the Rakefet complex, reporting regular violence and abuse similar to documented cases in other Israeli detention facilities.
What did PCATI reveal about conditions in Israel’s Rakefet jail?
Rakefet prison was opened in the early 1980s to detain high-risk criminals, but was closed soon after over inhumane treatment. Far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reopened Rakefet prison following the 7 October 2023 attacks.
The jail’s cells, exercise area, and legal consultation space are all underground, depriving prisoners of sunlight. It was originally built to hold 15 high-security inmates in individual cells, but recent data shows nearly 100 detainees are now confined, PCATI reports.
Following the mid-October ceasefire, Israel released 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza without charge and 250 convicted Palestinian prisoners.
Despite the mass release, more than 1,000 prisoners continue to be held under the same restrictive conditions.
PCATI stated,
“Though the war is officially over, [Palestinians from Gaza] are still imprisoned under legally contested and violent wartime conditions that violate international humanitarian law and amount to torture.”
The group includes two Rakefet detainees represented by PCATI lawyers.
Mr Ben-Gvir said Rakefet will hold Nukhba, “elite” Hamas fighters responsible for attacks, and Hezbollah special forces captured in Lebanon.
PCATI lawyers reported meeting a 34-year-old nurse detained at his hospital and a teenager arrested at an Israeli checkpoint in October 2024.
The PCATI lawyer Janan Abdu said,
“In the cases of the clients we visited, we are speaking about civilians. The man I spoke to was an 18-year-old who worked selling food. He was taken from a checkpoint on a road.”
The Israeli Prison Service did not comment on the identities or conditions of other prisoners held at Rakefet, meaning “cyclamen flower” in Hebrew.
Israeli data showed most Palestinians taken during the war were civilians. The Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that holding Palestinian bodies for negotiations was legal, and rights groups say the practice now applies to living detainees.
What did lawyers see inside Israel’s subterranean detention center?
Tal Steiner, PCATI’s executive director, said conditions for Palestinians in all prisons were “horrific by design.” Reports from detainees and military insiders reveal violations of international law.
Ms Steiner said holding prisoners underground at Rakefet Prison for extended periods without light causes severe physical and mental health issues.
She stated,
“It’s very hard to remain intact when you are held in such oppressive and difficult conditions.”
Even after years of legal work and visits to Ramla prisons, Ms Steiner said she had not known about Rakefet jail before Mr Ben-Gvir reopened it.
The jail had closed before PCATI was established, prompting the legal team to consult media archives and Rafael Suissa’s 1980s memoirs for information.
Ms Steiner added,
“[Suissa] wrote that he understood being held below ground 24/7 is just too cruel, too inhumane for any person to endure, regardless of what their actions have been.”
PCATI lawyers visited the underground jail this summer while representing two detainees held there.
Under the watch of masked, armed guards, they descended dirty stairs into the underground chamber, the floor scattered with dead insects and an unusable toilet.
The presence of cameras breached legal privacy rights, with guards threatening to end the session if detainees or the Gaza war were discussed.
Ms Abdu said,
“I asked myself, if the conditions in the lawyers’ room are so humiliating – not just personally to us but also to the profession – then what is the situation for the prisoners? The answer came soon, when we met them.”
She added that the detainees entered bent low, heads forced down, with hands and feet shackled.
Saja Misherqi Baransi, the second PCATI lawyer, said the two men had been held at Rakefet for nine months, and the nurse began by asking,
“Where am I and why am I here?”
During brief video hearings, Israeli judges approved the men’s detention without legal counsel or evidence, saying they would remain “until the war ends.”
According to the legal team, prisoners faced constant abuse, including dog attacks and guards trampling them, while being denied proper medical care and adequate food.
Prisoners are allowed minimal time outside their cells, with mattresses removed early and returned late, forcing them to sleep on bare iron frames.
The detainees’ reports aligned with images from Ben-Gvir’s visit, where he called the prison
“the natural place for terrorists.”
He repeatedly praised mistreating Palestinians, which ex-hostages say worsened Hamas abuse during captivity.
Mr Misherqi Baransi reported that the nurse last saw sunlight on 21 January, when moved to Rakefet after a year in other prisons, including Sde Teiman.
The detained nurse, a father of three, has had no news of his family. Lawyers can only disclose the name of the relative who authorised their case.
He added,
“When I told him: ‘I talked to your mother and she authorised me to meet you,’ then I am giving him this tiny thing, at least telling him that his mother is alive.”
The IPS stated in a statement that it
“operates in accordance with the law and under the supervision of official comptrollers”
and added that it
“is not responsible for the legal process, classification of detainees, arrest policy, or arrests.”
What did Navi Pillay say about Israel’s actions in Gaza?
Navi Pillay, Chair of the UN Commission, stated,
“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza. It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”
She said,
“The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza.”
Ms Pillay added,
“The Commission also finds that Israel has failed to prevent and punish the commission of genocide, through failure to investigate genocidal acts and to prosecute alleged perpetrators.”
What did Yvette Cooper say on UK support for Gaza reconstruction?
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated,
“The UK has worked intensively with international partners in recent months to create the momentum that has led to President Trump’s peace initiative, and to support the ceasefire that is now in place, but we now need to work with the same intensity and urgency to develop a plan for Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction.”
She said,
“Gaza has been completely devastated. The ceasefire gives us the opportunity not just to urgently scale up humanitarian efforts but also to look to the future of Gaza’s recovery. Rubble must be cleared, infrastructure repaired, healthcare restored and homes rebuilt.”
Ms Cooper stated,
“UK support delivered through UNICEF, the WFP and the NRC will help towards immediate humanitarian needs. Long-term recovery must be Palestinian-led but broad public and private investment will be needed to deliver the scale of reconstruction necessary.”
She added,
“The UK will also play a crucial part in that process, convening different parties as we are doing today with Egypt and bringing in expertise, experience and investment from the City of London to support reconstruction.”
When did the Gaza war start, and how many Palestinians died?
The Gaza war started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a major attack on Israel.
The conflict began with a large-scale surprise incursion into Israel, leading to immediate war and Israeli retaliation in Gaza.
As of late 2025, official insiders estimate that over 67,000 Palestinians have died due to Israeli military actions in Gaza, with the death toll continuing to rise.
Many deaths include civilians, women, and children, and casualties are expected to be underreported due to ongoing fighting and rescue limitations.