US, Israeli Officials Hold Daily Meetings at Israel’s Torture Base: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A report has revealed that American and Israeli officials have been conducting daily meetings at Sde Teiman, an Israeli military base known for housing Palestinian prisoners who are subjected to horrific torture, including rape and physical abuse.
According to the report published by The Guardian on Monday, two officials from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) visit the Sde Teiman base daily for meetings with Israeli and United Nations officials.
The base, located in the Negev Desert within the occupied Palestinian territories, has been the site of these meetings since July 29, the report adds.
Sources told the paper that the meetings at this facility have been kept secret, with USAID documents indicating that the gatherings took place in Be’er Sheva, a nearby city, instead.
The Sde Teiman prison, established after the outbreak of the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza on October 7 last year, reportedly holds about 4,000 Palestinian prisoners. Many detainees have suffered from various forms of torture, including rape, beatings, electrocution, and force feeding.
At least 35 prisoners have died due to the conditions at the facility.
In August, an Israeli military doctor provided a grim account of the conditions for sick Palestinian prisoners, describing how nearly 20 patients were found in one tent, blindfolded and shackled to old steel beds.
Many of the prisoners had undergone major surgeries or suffered gunshot wounds.
The doctor further stated that torture methods at the facility included forcing detainees to remain naked and blindfolded for long periods, with limbs being amputated after extended handcuffing.
“The situation there is more horrific than anything we’ve heard about Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo,” said Khaled Mahajneh, a lawyer with the Palestinian Prisoner's Society.