(Washington) The United States said Monday it was “concerned” and called on its Israeli ally to investigate after a CNN report on the degrading conditions to which certain Palestinian prisoners are allegedly subjected in the midst of the war in Gaza.
Based on information provided by Israeli whistleblowers, the American news channel broadcast a shocking report last week about the Sde Teiman base in the Negev desert in southern Israel .
Read the CNN report (in English)
“We are concerned about [ces accusations] and we are looking into this and other accusations of abuse against Palestinians in detention,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.
The United States has communicated to the Israelis that it has “an obligation to thoroughly investigate” accusations of violations of international humanitarian law, he stressed.
“We have always been clear and consistent with all countries, including Israel, that they must treat all detainees humanely, with dignity and in accordance with international law,” assured Vedant Patel.
According to CNN, the detention center has around 70 prisoners subjected to extreme conditions, as well as a field hospital where some injured detainees were tied to beds wearing diapers and fed with straw.
One of the whistleblowers, who shared photographs, spoke of blindfolded prisoners being ordered to sit up straight and not talking, with guards shouting “shut up” in Arabic at them .
In the field hospital, doctors amputated the limbs of injured prisoners who were then held in handcuffs, according to CNN.
The prisoners were tortured less to gather intelligence than “out of revenge” for the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, according to one of the whistleblowers.
The Israeli army has assured to examine these accusations. Israeli investigations into human rights violations, reported by the media or NGOs, rarely result in significant consequences for the armed or security forces.
On Friday, a report from the US State Department concluded that it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel used weapons supplied by the United States in a manner inconsistent with international humanitarian law, without this finding does not result in a suspension of the shipment of military equipment.