Israel holds Hamas, Hezbollah members in harsh conditions at secret Ayalon prison wing: Public broadcaster

JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN revealed on Monday new details about a secret underground wing inside Ayalon Prison, known as “Rakevet,” where members of Hamas and Hezbollah are being held in what it described as “harsh and extreme conditions.”

According to the report, the Rakevet wing is a heavily fortified underground facility equipped with advanced surveillance systems and strict security measures.

It was established nearly a year ago and currently houses dozens of detainees, including members of the Palestinian group Hamas’ elite forces and naval commando units, said KAN.

The facility, in Ramla in central Israel, also holds members of the Lebanese group Hezbollah’s elite “Radwan Force” who were captured during Israeli military operations along the Lebanese front.

“The detainees held there participated in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, and they are among the most dangerous prisoners,” KAN said, citing an unnamed commander of the wing.

“The wing operates as a pilot model – the first of its kind in the prison service – where guards are identified only by numbers on badges, without names, to preserve their anonymity.”

According to KAN, detainees there are kept in sealed cells for 23 hours a day, with only one hour allowed in a small enclosed concrete yard where limited sunlight passes through.

“During this hour, detainees are prohibited from speaking to each other. The hour includes showering and walking, and the yard walls are adorned with large images of the destruction in Gaza, clearly visible to the prisoners.”

“No detainee is allowed to leave the wing for any reason – not to meet with a lawyer, receive medical treatment, or attend court hearings,” KAN said.

More than 10,800 Palestinians are currently imprisoned in Israel, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports, many of whom suffer from torture, starvation, and medical neglect – conditions that have led to the deaths of several detainees.

Israel has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.