Abdelraouf Arnaout
09 January 2025•Update: 09 January 2025
JERUSALEM
Israel has opened an underground prison for detainees from Hamas and Hezbollah groups where they are denied access to sunlight, Israeli media said on Thursday.
According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, the facility, located in central Israel, is designed to house “the most dangerous individuals” from Hamas's elite forces and Hezbollah's Radwan Unit.
“This is their natural place, underground,” far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, told KAN.
The Israeli broadcaster said some 75 detainees from Hamas and Hezbollah are currently being held at the underground prison.
"Even the small window in the ward has been sealed off for the detainees,” it added.
Describing the conditions in the underground prison as harsh, KAN said detainees there are shackled and confined to their cells for 23 hours a day.
“They are allowed only one brief opportunity per day to step into a small, enclosed yard,” it added. “Even this small yard is completely closed and the sunlight can’t reach it, and detainees are allowed to go out into it once a day.”
According to KAN, detainees in the underground prison are given a mattress and small amounts of food.
“This facility houses most of the dangerous detainees, who are not expected to be released for a long time, if ever,” it added.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed over 46,000 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Thousands of Palestinians are believed to have been detained by the Israeli army during the course of the Gaza war.
The conflict spread to Lebanon where Israel mounted deadly attacks that killed and injured thousands until a cease-fire was reached on Nov. 27 to end over 14 months of fighting with the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
In November 2024, 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.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio
