As bodies of Palestinians are returned from Israeli custody under the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire, medical teams and human rights observers report harrowing evidence of torture, executions, and systemic abuse, highlighting decades of impunity in Israel’s detention practices.
At least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel to Gaza have been confirmed as having been held at Sde Teiman, a notorious Israeli detention facility in the Naqab (Negev) desert, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Muneer AlBoursh, the ministry’s director-general, told CNN last week that documents found inside each body bag, written in Hebrew, confirmed the bodies were held at Sde Teiman at some point and that DNA testing was performed on them.
Medical teams who examined the bodies at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported signs of severe abuse, including blindfolds, bound hands, gunshot wounds, and bodies crushed beneath tank tracks.
In a statement to The Guardian, Eyad Barhoum, administrative director of the hospital, said most bodies were identified only by codes rather than names, leaving families in anguish.
Some of the bodies bore signs of extreme abuse — some were missing limbs or teeth, while others had clearly been burned, according to a statement by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza on Wednesday.
“Crimes that cannot be hidden … this is how the bodies of Gaza’s prisoners were returned; blindfolded, bound like animals, and bearing signs of severe torture and burning,” AlBoursh wrote on social media.
“They did not die naturally, they were executed while restrained… [this is] a war crime demanding an urgent international investigation and accountability for the perpetrators.”
In an exclusive interview with Doha News, Sahar Francis, a Palestinian human rights lawyer who has worked with prisoners for nearly three decades, said that torture was common practice.
“The brutality and the physical attacks against detainees… nothing new in this. We expected that people who were, from the Israeli point of view, suspected of being involved in the 7th of October events would be very brutally attacked. But it was shocking to see footage of the bodies.”
Methods of torture used by Israel
Francis highlighted the systematic nature of the abuses inflicted on Palestinian detainees, noting that prisoners from Gaza and the West Bank have faced severe physical attacks from the moment of arrest.
“Hundreds of detainees were stripped naked, handcuffed, and blindfolded, then transported in trucks in a very humiliating way to detention facilities inside Israel,” she said.
Detainees were forced to remain handcuffed and blindfolded for long periods of time, sleep was severely restricted, and police have used batons, dogs, and strip searches as forms of abuse. Cases of sexual harassment and rape have also been documented.
Israel’s systemic torture of Palestinian prisoners has been extensively documented. According to a database maintained by the Institute for Palestine Studies, more than one million Palestinians have been arrested since 1967. Among them, 316 have been declared martyrs, and many of whom were subjected to torture.
As of early October 2025, the database also indicated a total of 11,100 Palestinian detainees, including 53 women, 400 children, and 3,544 administrative detainees, with around 5,000 prisoners reported as sick or injured.
Following October 7, 2023, at least 80 detainees have been killed, and 75 bodies remain held, part of a total of 735 detained bodies. In the same period, approximately 20,000 arrests have been recorded in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, while thousands are believed to be held in Gaza.
Barriers to accountability
The systematic abuse and killings of Palestinians in Israeli custody, particularly at Sde Teiman, raise urgent questions under international law.
According to Francis, “Israel continues to violate international law systematically. Although it has signed the Convention Against Torture, it made reservations on the articles allowing UN special rapporteurs to investigate cases of torture.”
“Every four years, when Israel is reviewed, we submit documentation and reports to the committee, which always confirms that Israel has not changed its laws or practices,” She adds. “Despite being in violation of its obligations, Israel has managed to get away with it all these years.”
Francis also emphasised that Palestinians, along with organisations such as the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and international lawyers, have submitted numerous cases to the Office of the ICC Prosecutor, in an effort to hold perpetrators accountable.
“Hopefully, they will take it seriously. But we believe these perpetrators will not be held accountable,” she says. “The international law system depends on the political will of states to implement it.”
She criticised the double standards of European countries, noting that they “immediately took measures and imposed sanctions when Russia invaded Ukraine,” which she described as “a clear example of hypocrisy when it comes to the Palestinian case.”
She pointed out that although European nations are aware of violations and have the reports, there has been no action or prosecution. That’s why Palestinians now rely on the ICC, she said.
However, she added that the U.S. has been punishing ICC judges, special rapporteurs such as Francesca Albanese, and even Palestinian human rights organisations that work with the ICC. She called this “a clear attempt to obstruct our work and accountability efforts.”
‘This is collective punishment’
The return of mutilated bodies from Israeli custody has left Palestinian families grappling with profound grief and trauma, as they encounter loved ones in horrific condition after holding out hope for their safe return.
The lawyer highlighted the deliberate nature of Israel’s actions, stating that these practices amount to “collective punishment, which again violates international law and human rights.”
She emphasised that the strategic intent behind these measures, “Israel uses these policies systematically because it knows such practices will not affect it. You torture and kill a person, but why hold their body? Why deny their families the right to bury them?”
The scale of this denial is staggering. She noted that Israel is currently holding more than 700 bodies of Palestinians, some held since the 1970s and 1980s. “This is collective punishment for the entire society,” she said, underlining the enduring trauma inflicted on families and communities.
