Newly leaked images and first-hand testimonies are casting a harsh spotlight on the treatment of Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli detention facilities, particularly the sprawling Ketziot Prison in the Negev Desert. The revelations come amid the aftermath of a major cease-fire deal that saw the exchange of nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees for Israeli hostages, an agreement brokered in part by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The story begins with a series of photographs, first published by the Hebrew-language website Kikar HaShabbat and captured by photographer Haim Goldberg during a February 2025 visit to Ketziot Prison. These images, recently cleared for release by Israeli authorities, depict Palestinian inmates in conditions that human rights groups have long described as degrading and inhumane. Prisoners are shown crammed into small, overcrowded cells, some shackled or forced into humiliating positions during inspections. The stark visuals have provided what many advocates call the clearest evidence yet of systemic mistreatment within Israeli prisons.
According to Anadolu Agency and corroborated by Kikar HaShabbat, the images reveal not only the physical confines but also the psychological toll endured by detainees. Prisoners are seen sitting on the ground with their heads bowed, a posture that speaks volumes about their daily reality. Some of those photographed were among the 1,700 Palestinians released in the recent prisoner exchange, underscoring the scale and significance of the issue.
Adding fuel to the controversy, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared outside a cell at Ketziot Prison on October 23, 2025, and publicly boasted about depriving Palestinian inmates of basic rights. In a widely circulated social media video, Ben-Gvir pointed through a door window at three prisoners sitting on the floor, their heads lowered. His remarks drew swift condemnation from international human rights organizations, who argue that such statements reflect an official policy of punitive deprivation rather than rehabilitation or justice.
Israel currently holds more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, according to human rights groups. This figure had more than doubled since the war began on October 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack on Israel. The surge in detentions has been accompanied by mounting allegations of torture, medical neglect, and even deaths in custody. The Palestinian Prisoners Society reports that more than 75 detainees have died since the conflict erupted, a statistic that has alarmed both the United Nations and international advocacy groups.
The cease-fire deal that took effect in October 2025 was supposed to mark a turning point. Under its terms, Hamas agreed to release all living Israeli hostages and hand over the remains of former captives, while Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and returned hundreds of bodies of deceased Palestinians. Yet for many of those released, freedom has come at a staggering personal cost.
Take the case of Nassem, a 30-year-old Palestinian who was arrested by Israeli forces in December 2023 at a Gaza checkpoint and held without charge for two years. When he finally returned home, he found his house reduced to rubble and all but one member of his family killed in Israeli bombardments. "The image of my family has never left my memory. All I could think when I was freed was of being united with them. That’s now a mirage," Nassem told The Independent in a voice filled with grief. Only his four-year-old daughter survived. "My wife, my son, my two daughters, my mother-in-law – all killed, all dead. I am a prisoner of grief."
His story is echoed by others. Dr. Bilal al-Masr, detained without charge since December 2024 after his hospital was stormed by Israeli forces, returned to a destroyed neighborhood and haunting memories of alleged abuse. "I returned free to a shackled homeland without a home, without a hospital, without a life," he said. "We could hear the screams of detainees at night." Released detainees like Dr. Bilal and others described systematic abuse, including beatings, deprivation of food and water, lack of medical care, and even allegations of summary executions within detention centers.
Forensic doctors in Gaza, such as Dr. Ahmed Duhair at Nasser Hospital, have been tasked with identifying the bodies of Palestinians returned as part of the exchange. Many of the over 160 bodies bore disturbing signs: bound wrists and ankles, injuries consistent with torture, and in some cases, marks that appeared to have been caused by tank or bulldozer tracks. "Many bodies were naked except for underwear and there were some cases where wrists and ankles were bound, with clear marks on their bodies, indicating that torture tools had been used," Dr. Duhair told The Independent.
Israel has consistently denied allegations of systemic abuse. In statements to the press, the Israeli military maintained that all bodies returned to Gaza were "from battles within the Gaza Strip, and not of detainees [who were] taken alive to Israel." The Israeli Prison Service stated, "All inmates are held according to legal procedures, and their rights, including access to medical care and adequate living conditions, are upheld by professionally trained staff." The Israeli military has also rejected claims of summary executions, calling such allegations "inaccurate or completely unfounded."
Nevertheless, investigations by The Independent and The New York Times have uncovered evidence of abuse, torture, sexual violence, and deaths in detention over the last two years. Detainees and their families reported being held incommunicado for weeks or months, a practice U.N. officials have described as a form of forced disappearance. Many were arrested at checkpoints, in homes, hospitals, or even at aid distribution sites, often with little or no explanation and no access to legal counsel.
Among those released were hundreds of medical workers, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics. According to Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Healthcare Workers Watch, at least 115 Palestinian medical professionals remain in Israeli jails, some without charge. The bodies of several medics who died in custody have yet to be returned to their families.
For the minority of released prisoners who had been convicted of violent crimes, their return sparked public celebrations in Palestinian communities. Yet many others, especially those detained without charge under Israel’s "unlawful combatant" law, face the daunting task of rebuilding lives shattered by war and loss. As Nassem put it, "Freedom from the loss of loved ones is not freedom but a return to a pain greater than captivity itself."
As Gaza’s medics and families begin the long process of identifying the dead and the newly freed attempt to pick up the pieces, the images and testimonies emerging from Israel’s prisons have reignited a fierce debate over the treatment of detainees and the broader human cost of the conflict. The world, it seems, is now faced with evidence too stark to ignore.