Inside Israel’s toughest prison wing, housing the worst Nukhba terrorists

Underground conditions include three men to a tiny, bare cell, one hour a day for exercise outside, and only basic food at meals.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The toughest prison wing in Israel is dedicated to 84 of the worst of Hamas’s Nukhba terrorists captured during and after the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, as they await trial for their war crimes.

Five more men belong to the elite Radwan force of the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group who were captured in Lebanon.

The Israel Hayom newspaper reported on Friday about the Rakefet wing of the Nitzan Magen prison in Ramle, which is deep underground and can only be accessed by descending a winding staircase and passing through several heavy, automatic metal doors.

There are three to four men in each bare cell that contains a small shelf on the wall, a bunk bed and a single metal bed solidly bolted to the floor, with a thin mattress and blanket provided only at night.

If a fourth man is put in the cell, he sleeps on the floor.

There is no entertainment, as can be found in regular prisons, no books, no television or radio, no cards.

There is no privacy. Closed-circuit cameras surveil the cells, and there is no curtain to hide the shower. The toilets are a single block, with no moving parts that can be broken off.

While cold water is always available, hot water is only provided for seven minutes each day.

They are provided with three meals a day that contain the minimum nutrients demanded by international law, given on plastic plates with no cutlery.

Whenever the window slot in the door is opened, they must lie on the floor in the Muslim praying position, but with their hands behind their backs.

The wing is silent. Any raised voice will earn the prisoner time in isolation.

They are allowed outside for one hour each day in a small, roofed yard that lets in a small amount of sunlight. No sports equipment of any kind is provided; the prisoners can walk or do calisthenics.

Interestingly, the wing’s commander, H., told the newspaper that these conditions are not what bother the prisoners the most.

“The problem for them is the uncertainty,” he said. “They’ve been in a fog for a year and a half already. They don’t know what’s happening in Gaza, in Israel, with their families, their friends. They don’t even know what time of day it is. I think that drives them crazier than the surprise inspections that occur sometimes several times a day.”

The inspections occur at all hours of the day or night, with masked and armed guards bursting in, tying the terrorists’ hands, blindfolding them and forcing them to lie on the floor as they search for any contraband.

“We need to prevent these human diseases from attacking the staff, prevent them from attempting to escape and eliminate any possibility of suicide because they need to be held accountable for their actions,” explained Moshe Hidra, commander of the entire detention center.

“This is my sacred responsibility towards the people of Israel, towards the bereaved families and towards the hostages.”

The guards are proud of their role in keeping the terrorists cowed, and see the minimal conditions the prisoners receive as per international law as only fair, considering the horrific acts they carried out while murdering 1,200 and injuring thousands, including mass rape, beheading and burning their victims to death.

“I know who murdered an entire family and who confessed to rape,” said Hidra. “One of them, about 60 years old, directed the forces at one of the kibbutzim. They provided him with work and that’s how he rewarded them.”

It takes a high degree of mental toughness to face the terrorists day in and day out, knowing what they did to innocent men, women and children, and the guards were chosen very carefully, including from the ranks of elite fighters of the Border Police and the IDF.

H. volunteered to serve in the wing when it first opened seven months ago.

“This is my way to contribute my part to the war effort,” he said. “Doing my duty against such terrorists is a physical and emotional challenge, but it’s also a mission and proof of [my] love for the country.”

He has not told his family exactly whom he is guarding, so that they don’t worry unnecessarily, he said, adding that “maybe in a decade” he would reveal that they had been more than just “security prisoners.”

When asked if he thought any of the terrorists regretted their actions by now, Hidra immediately rejected the idea.

“No way,” he said. “They don’t regret a thing. They simply don’t understand how the IDF managed to capture them.”

Israel-Hamas warNukhbaOctober 7thSecurity prisoners