Dozens of Palestinians are being detained in a secretive underground Israeli prison where they reportedly have no access to daylight, news, or family contact, according to testimonies verified by The Guardian. The facility, known as Rakefet, has drawn growing concern from human rights monitors and UN officials who warn it may violate international detention standards.

The report describes a system of prolonged isolation for detainees from Gaza — including a nurse, students, and a teenager — some of whom have been held without charge for months under Israel’s expanded wartime detention powers.

“They are denied sunlight, denied letters, denied contact with the world — as if they do not exist,” said a representative from B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights group.

A Prison Without Daylight

Located in a remote military compound in northern Israel, Rakefet is built entirely underground. Former guards and legal sources told The Guardian that detainees are confined to windowless concrete cells, with electric lights on a fixed cycle and no access to outdoor air.

Several detainees, lawyers say, have been held there since January, unseen by their families or the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). One Gaza nurse has reportedly not seen natural light in nearly 10 months, while a 17-year-old detainee remains under continuous interrogation.

“This is administrative detention at its most extreme — complete invisibility,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director for Human Rights Watch.

The Israeli government has not publicly acknowledged the facility’s current use. However, officials have defended similar detentions as necessary for “security reasons” amid ongoing conflict with Hamas and instability in Gaza.

Detention Without Charge

Under Israel’s Emergency Powers (Detention) Law, the military can hold individuals without charge for renewable six-month periods if deemed a “security threat.” While such detentions are not new, human rights organizations say Rakefet represents a “qualitative escalation” — an expansion of detention into total sensory and social deprivation.

Legal advocates say families are not informed of their relatives’ whereabouts, and court hearings are conducted in closed sessions. Defense lawyers often receive heavily redacted files, making it nearly impossible to challenge the detentions.

“These are not convicted prisoners — they are people the state has chosen to make disappear,” said Dana Yaron, an attorney with the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI).

UN and International Response

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has called for immediate access to all Israeli detention facilities, citing reports of “inhuman conditions” and “systematic denial of due process.”

The ICRC has also requested permission to visit Rakefet, emphasizing that even wartime detainees must have access to light, medical care, and legal representation under the Geneva Conventions.

Meanwhile, the European Union has urged transparency, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying the reports “raise grave humanitarian concerns that must be addressed immediately.”

Israel’s security establishment has maintained silence. Requests for comment from The Guardian were not answered, while the Israel Prison Service declined to confirm or deny the existence of the Rakefet facility.

Context: Detention and Displacement

Since the start of the Gaza war in 2023, Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians, including aid workers, journalists, and medical personnel. Many are held under administrative detention, a policy that allows indefinite imprisonment without formal charge or trial.

Human rights groups say the Rakefet system reflects a broader erosion of oversight within Israel’s wartime apparatus. It coincides with reports of overcrowded prisons, reduced legal access, and increased restrictions on humanitarian monitoring.

“The Rakefet prison is not an isolated case — it’s the visible part of a much deeper pattern,” said Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “Israel is operating outside the boundaries of international law, and the world is looking away.”

The Takeaway

The revelations about Rakefet expose a chilling undercurrent in Israel’s counterterrorism policy — one where national security has blurred into enforced disappearance.

For detainees and their families, the prison is more than a legal black hole; it is a symbol of vanishing accountability in a conflict where humanitarian norms are collapsing.

“Light is a basic human need,” said a former Israeli guard who spoke anonymously. “At Rakefet, they took that away — and with it, everything else.”