Israel plans to incarcerate Hamas terrorists in rarely-used underground prison

Hamas terrorists captured during the October 7 onslaught will be incarcerated in a little-used underground prison as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has instructed Israel Prison Service Commissioner Katy Perry to make necessary preparations for the transfer. The underground wing at the Nitzan prison in the central Israeli city of Ramla has not been used for many years and is not much habitable for imprisonment, according to Hebrew media reports. Around 100 Hamas terrorists can be housed in the underground wing of the prison. Perry said that since October 7, Israel has held over 118 “unlawful combatants” from Gaza meanwhile Ben Gvir has said, “the policy we are leading now is minimal conditions for these heinous murderers.” Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his strongest public criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war on Hamas in south Gaza, said there was a gap between the government’s declared intentions to protect civilians and the casualties.

“As we stand here almost a week into this campaign into the south … it remains imperative that Israel put a premium on civilian protection,” Blinken said at a press conference following a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in Washington on Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference in Washington following a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Blinken laid out concrete steps to ensure civilians are out of harm’s way and the areas they go to are supplied with food, medicine and water. “As we stand here almost a week into this campaign into the south … it remains imperative that Israel put a premium on civilian protection. And there does remain a gap between, exactly what I said when I was there, the intent to protect civilians and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground,” Blinken said. With inputs from Reuters