Rights groups reveal that Palestinians are being detained in a secret Israeli underground prison without charges, sunlight, or contact with families

From [HERE] "Israel" is detaining dozens of Palestinians from Gaza in a secret underground facility where they are denied sunlight, proper food, and any contact with the outside world, a report by The Guardian revealed. 

Human rights lawyers say the detainees include at least two civilians: a nurse abducted while still in his hospital scrubs and a young food vendor, both held for months without charge or trial. The men are represented by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), whose lawyers say their clients endured severe abuse consistent with previously documented torture in Israeli prisons.

The detainees were transferred in January to the Rakefet complex, a subterranean prison near Ramla originally opened in the 1980s for "dangerous criminal offenders" but shuttered a few years later for being unfit for human confinement. Far-right Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered its reopening following October 7, 2023.

All parts of the prison, the cells, a small exercise space, and even the meeting room for lawyers, are underground, meaning that detainees live entirely without natural light. Once designed for 15 "high-risk prisoners", the facility now holds around 100 Palestinians, according to official data obtained by PCATI. [MORE]