'Feelings stay outside the prison walls': Inside look at facility where Oct. 7 terrorists are imprisoned
In an exclusive Israel Hayom interview, the guards and commanders in charge of a prison facility where Hamas terrorists are incarcerated share what it is like to work in close proximity with the people who committed atrocities that the national psyche still struggles to comprehend. "On the outside, I'm a poker face, but inside my soul is in turmoil," one of them shares.
Tal Ariel Yakir
Israel Hayom
Dec 23, 2023
An Israeli prison guard tower
When walking by the terrorists from Hamas' Nukhba unit, I saw no change in the facial expression of the commander of the Israel Prison Service security team, Advanced Staff Sgt. Maj. Mowafaq Asakla, who oversees a prison facility whose location is prohibited from publication.
They had arrived a month and a half earlier and passed in front of Asakla, handcuffed to each other in chains and wearing blindfolds, dressed in the brown uniforms of security prisoners.
One by one they were brought into a side room and sat down on a round chair in front of a camera and bright light, but instead of the usual mugshot, they were photographed against the backdrop of the Israeli flag.
"One of them looked at me and started wailing," Asakla said in an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom. "He cried, said he was just a construction worker who came to Israel to find work and that he had no money for food for his children. He kept saying, 'I'm a worker, I'm a worker. I didn't do anything.'
"He tried to get me to pity him. I didn't reply and didn't look in his direction. All that was going through my mind were the terrible videos [of atrocities committed on Oct. 7] that Hamas had uploaded on Telegram. The next day I found out who he was when I saw his personal belongings. He was not a worker, he was a murderer who had killed a young [Israeli] woman and her young son in cold blood, who had used a knife while they were alive and then shot them in the head. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
"I felt sick. I cannot comprehend where such evil comes from. It's important to maintain professionalism when dealing with terrorists, but I admit that it's hard for me to look at him. He disgusts me. On the outside, I'm a poker face, but inside my soul is in turmoil. When I learned of his actions, I couldn't fall asleep. That night I got on my motorcycle and drove around for hours."
Asakla, a Druze from northern Israel, is one of several people responsible for the imprisonment of dozens of Oct. 7 terrorists. For many days he and his guards were in closest contact with the embodiment of evil and cruelty on earth, bloodthirsty monsters whose burning hatred equals that of the Nazis. Despite this, the Israel Prison Service follows the minimum conditions required for prisoners. The cells of the terrorists are small, without lighting, and without separation between the toilets and showers. The contact with them is minimal, straight-to-the-point, without small talk and without a basic interest in their actions or feelings.
Lt. Col. Shachar Kamisa, the second-in-command, explained, "These prisoners have nothing to lose. They know that for the horrific acts that they have committed, they will not just receive one or two years in prison. That is why our vigilance is sky-high, especially while opening the doors to do a headcount. Now they have no weapons, they are subdued and scared, but their danger is mental. No one knows what's going through their minds. They talk among themselves quietly, and we take into account that they might be planning to hurt the guards and maybe even escape.
"These are criminals who had murdered, raped, burned, and looted, and their ideology, which is rooted in the destruction of the Jewish people and Israel, did not stop on Oct. 7. In prison, it can even intensify. Our job is to stop any attempted uprising. We will not let them raise their heads. They now understand that they are in Israel, not Gaza."
Prison guards take part in an Israel Prison Service drill
The Israel Prison Service has seven prisons designated for security prisoners alone: Meggido, Gilboa, and Damon in the north, where women and juveniles are also held; Ofer in central Israel; and Ktzi'ot, Nafha, and Ramon in the south. Of the 19,200 prisoners, 7,500 are security prisoners who were arrested for various terror activities. About 2,300 of them are terrorists who were arrested on Oct. 7. How many of them belong to Hamas' Nukhba unit is unknown as the Shin Bet security agency refrains from publishing this information for security reasons.
They are considered highly dangerous and are held in a separate wing in the facility and do not come into contact with other security prisoners, including the armed men and the civilians who took part in the ISIS-style brutal attack on the south.
he Nukhba terrorists arrived at the facility on Nov. 9 after having been investigated by the Shin Bet, Israel Police, and the IDF. Upon their arrival, they were registered and were examined by a medic. Although with cuffs on their hands and feet at all times, they were constantly supervised and escorted by guards.
Some prisoner files included photographs of terrorists kneeling on the floor, with their eyes covered, crying. Gone are the murderers who were equipped with shoulder-fired missiles and Kalashnikovs.
When escorted to their wing, the prisoners are chained together and led through the corridors bent over and their faces turned toward the ground.
The wing designated to these terrorists is ascetic. In the center, there is a concrete plaza, the floor of which was painted light blue, but has faded over time, and above is a metal ceiling without any way to see the sky. Around, shaped like the letter H, are the prisoners' cells, all of which have iron doors, also painted blue, and Israeli flags hanging on the outside. Opposite is the guards' control center, with safety glass and computers and screens showing the cells and recording every action.
Their cells are also smaller than usual, each with 5-8 inmates. There are no lockers or pictures inside, only iron bunk beds with a floor toilet, sink, and shower at the entrance. The toilet is surrounded by a low white wall that provides privacy only if bent down. As mentioned above, the light is never on in these cells, contrary to other cells with security prisoners.
They also have no windows, and the terrorists are surrounded by sealed concrete, stay in almost complete darkness, and are unable to distinguish between day and night. The openings in the doors, which are used to peek inside or insert food trays, are also hermetically closed. The weak and minimal light enters through an opening with a dense mesh, which also allows for the passage of air. The oxygen reaches the rooms through vents installed above the doors.
The terrorists do not have an extensive daily routine. They have their handcuffs on most of the time and only leave their cell for a medical examination. Three times a day – morning, noon, and evening – they are counted. The door can only be opened by an officer in the presence of two guards and a security team nearby. One such security team is headed by Asakla.
Each one is equipped with a vest, neck guard, helmet with goggles, walkie-talkies, pepper spray, and batons that stick into the back of the vest and resemble a ninja sword. They also have hand-held body shields in case of a riot. During the headcount, the terrorists stay inside the cell and the guards are not allowed to cross the threshold.
As such, the cell door opens only for a few seconds a day. As for the food, the guards insert it, as mentioned above, in a special opening in the door, which is then closed immediately. The food that the Nukhba terrorists receive is simple. Throughout the day, there are no mattresses in the cells. They are brought in in the evening and removed again in the morning.
Israeli music also plays in the wing every day. According to the Prison Service, it is meant to uplift the morale of the guards, but one can imagine that it also drives the prisoners out of their minds, especially hearing the Israeli national anthem play on repeat.
From the moment it became known that these terrorists were going to arrive, the head of the Israel Prison Service, Katy Perry, ordered the training of the prison guards for the arrival of the murderous prisoners. They learned about the importance of separating emotions and showing composure and took Krav Maga lessons. The guards also went through psychological evaluations to make sure they were mentally ready to oversee a group of terrorists who had brutally murdered women, children, and the elderly.
Kamisa said, "We made sure the guards wouldn't panic. The psychologist was impressed by the team at the facility and noted that the guards are committed to their jobs and are highly motivated. Their feeling, and that of everyone here, is that we are part of the fighting. We did not fight terrorists in the Gaza periphery, but we are the ones who are now keeping them from repeating their despicable acts. For all of us here, this is not a job but a mission."
Q: And if one of the guards decided that it was too much, what would happen?
"I would talk to him and try to understand his situation. A guard who is unable to mentally deal with terrorists and the atrocities can move to another position. We will figure it out because it is not easy to be in such close contact with terrorists 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So far, no one has asked to be removed from the position. We have regular conversations with the welfare officer, and he comes to the briefings before the shifts, listens to the conversation between the guards, and speaks to them privately if he has any concerns. We act sensitively, especially with guards who are residents of the south and surrounding areas."
One such guard is 21-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Oren Reuveni, from a settlement near Gaza. He enlisted at the age of 18 and completed his military service as a prison guard, which he continued as a career officer. On the morning of Oct. 7, Reuveni was at home. During the incessant missile fire, he went to his mother's house, where his two brothers, aged 17 and 8, also live.
"When I got there, we were told to lock ourselves in the shelter. Twenty-five terrorists infiltrated the moshav, and the emergency squad stopped some of them at the fence. Fifteen managed to get in. A short time later, the electricity went out and there was no cell phone reception. We didn't know what was going on outside. I looked out the window and saw the terrorists walking around my street with green ribbons on their foreheads, shooting everywhere. It looked like a war movie. We did not have a weapon at home, and as such, were unprotected.
"I grabbed my 17-year-old brother and told him that it was our job to protect our mother and little brother. We took knives from the kitchen and I told him that if the terrorists came in I would jump on them first and then him and that we would fight with all our might. Fortunately, the emergency squad was able to stop the terrorists. We were lucky because not far from there, there was a group of 80 more terrorists. We later found out that they had maps of the moshav, including the amount of people living in each house. They were eliminated by the tank crewmen.
"We were in the shelter for three days, without electricity, and didn't know about the massacre. Only when we were evacuated did I find out about the magnitude of the tragedy. A friend who was with me in kindergarten was murdered, a friend from Moshav Sufa was murdered, three people from the moshav who were on their way home were murdered, as were several of my friends from Be'eri. My friend's grandfather was murdered, and the grandmother, Adina Moshe, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz to Gaza and was among the first to be released. The terrorists did not harm my biological family, but they harmed my social family."
Q: How do you get through the day working in such close proximity to the people who perpetrated the atrocities you just described?
"The day I was told that I would be guarding the Nukhba terrorists, I was in shock. How could I go to work and face them? What would happen when I saw them? What would I do if there was an interaction? I knew that no matter how charged, angry, and grieving I was, the emotions would remain outside the prison walls. Every shift I stand outside for a moment, take two or three breaths, then go inside with an inner feeling of victory, because I managed to cross the gate. It's not easy. I'm responsible for the people who murdered my friends and my neighbors."
Not only did Reuveni lose friends on Oct. 7, but his family had to evacuate with almost no belongings. Despite this, he feels he is no different from his colleagues.
"The whole country is in trauma," he says. "Mine is just a little bigger. The first day I saw the terrorists, I had mixed feelings – hatred and joy. Here I was, free, and here they were, imprisoned."
Q: How much direct contact have you had with them?
"I am in front of them during the headcounts, and at first I restrained myself from getting angry. Maybe they were the ones in my moshav? Maybe they were the ones who murdered the people I know? Maybe they burned houses and abused civilians? I quickly rebooted my brain. I looked them in the eyes several times so that they would see that I was not afraid of them. To this day, I try to understand the intensity of hatred that led to the murder of babies, the rape of young women, and the abuse of corpses."
Q: Have you ever spoken to them?
"In the end, it's just a job. Stand up, bring a medic, and that's it. Sometimes I speak to them in Hebrew on purpose, because I want to show them that they didn't manage to destroy us. You tried to make us disappear – and you'll see our flag in front of you. We are a strong country and we are here to stay. You did not defeat us."
Reuveni is not the only one with special circumstances. Kamisa too is from the south and Asakla has several family members serving in or near the Gaza Strip, about whom he worries.
Asakla said, "I have three nephews who are being recruited to fight now. One is a career officer, the other is in the reserves in an elite unit and both are deep in the fighting, not far from my brother-in-law who serves in the reserves as a medic. My brother is in the reserves in the Home Front Command, and another nephew was called up for reserve duty as a technical staff member. Sometimes my heart contracts because I am not in Gaza, because those who work in security are not reservists, but this is my battlefield. The war here is more mental than physical. We are the closest to the terrorists and we are the ones who look them in the eye.
"The day they arrived I was full of emotions. I remembered how one of my nephews called in tears when he participated in the removal of bodies from the Nova party. I remember his stories every shift. Sometimes I stand aside, close my eyes for a few seconds and remember that you have to stay professional in front of these rapists and murderers."
Q: Do they ever try to speak to you or the guards who speak Arabic?
"Not really. Once I heard one of them curse Hamas and [its leader in Gaza Yahya] Sinwar, and I'm sure it was a show for us. To gain our pity, they say that Sinwar brought them to this situation. It won't help them. They can't hide the evil in their eyes. Without the handcuffs, they would be trying to kill us too."
Q: Is that a possibility that you keep in mind?
"Of course. That's why we're always on high alert. What worries me the most is an attack on a guard. Every time the cell door opens and we face the terrorists, the vigilance is at its peak."
Q: And when your shift is over, how do you disconnect?
"My wife is an emotion-focused therapist, so she suggested that I practice Yoga. It was strange to me, and I'd rather ride my motorcycle or go down to my olive grove. That's where I clear my head."
When the war broke out, Perry decided to take the security prisoners' living conditions down a notch, some of whom have been in prison for many years. Hamas terrorists who are not members of the Nukhba unit are held in the same conditions and in isolated wings. These are armed men and civilians who participated in the murders, burning of houses, and looting.
All seven prisons entered a status known as "lockdown", in which the prisoners are not allowed to leave the cells, except for one when a prison doesn't have a shower in the cell. In such a case, the guards take the inmates to take a short shower. The prisoners cannot go to the canteen or for a daily walk and are no longer allowed to cook in their room.
All electrical appliances were removed, including televisions, kettles, electric hot plates, and fans. At the same time, the electricity was cut off from the sockets in the wall, preventing them from trying to charge smuggled phones. Visits by family members are completely prohibited.
At the beginning of the war, the prisoners tried to contact each other, disrupted the daily schedule, and shouted "Allahu Akbar" every time a missile alert went off. The Shin Bet would remove any such inmate and send him to solitary confinement. The same punishment was given to two minors who, when taken to take a shower, tried to tear down the Israeli flag.
Another guard overlooking the Oct. 7 terrorists, who are not members of the Nukhba unit, is Sgt. 1st Class Zohar Elazari, who recently completed her military service.
"From the very beginning I was told that the work with the Oct. 7 prisoners cannot be conducted based on emotions, even though everyone is charged," she said. "I don't exchange a word with the terrorists, not even during the distribution of food. I feel sick at work, and it doesn't matter if they are from Nukhba or not. The terrorists from Gaza infiltrated the country to destroy us, Israelis.
"It feels like I've aged a decade in the past two months, since finishing my military service. I've stopped watching footage of Oct. 7 or watching the news, because there is a limit to how much evil you can absorb. I'm strong, I dealt with a sister who died three years ago from cancer, so I don't let myself get depressed. Only at home do I go back to being mom and dad's little girl, and make sure to talk to them about everything, just not about the terrorists."
Q: Do your friends ever ask you about your work?
"Everyone asks me how I am able to look at the faces of these murderers, but that is my job. When I am not in the correctional facility, I do everything not to sink. We are part of the war. We have always guarded security prisoners, but now it is more significant. We are a buffer between them and the citizens of the country.
"Some of us kill terrorists in Gaza and some protect the citizens from the terrorists. This is my contribution to the war. Our work is dangerous because hundreds of murderous terrorists are around us every day, and it is only thanks to our toughness and professionalism that they keep quiet."
The guards also participated in the hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, walked beside them, and handed them over to the Red Cross.
The release led to several instances of lies and slander against Israel. Most notably that of 18-year-old Mohammed Nazal, who after being released appeared on video with his hands bandaged, claiming he had been beaten in Israeli prison, only for Israel Prison Service footage taken during the exchange to reveal that he was healthy upon release.
In the same round was released 22-year-old Ahed Tamimi, considered an "icon" of Palestinian resistance, who claimed on Palestinian media outlets that she had been denied food and water during her imprisonment and was tortured by the guards.
Asakla was present at every round of exchange.
"I gave one of the freed women a bottle of water, and then I read in the Arab media that she claimed that the guards dragged her and shouted at her," he said. "I wasn't offended, but it hurt me that they were trying to portray us as inhumane. I was also next to Nazal who got on the bus, all smiles. I don't take it personally, but it makes me angry that this is how the world sees us. I tried to concentrate only on the hostages who returned home."
Elazari too participated in several hostage release rounds.
"I accompanied some of the female prisoners to the bathroom and they were a little rude, but it didn't interest me," she said. "I didn't look at their smiles or poses. It's a waste of our The guards also participated in the hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, walked beside them, and handed them over to the Red Cross.
The release led to several instances of lies and slander against Israel. Most notably that of 18-year-old Mohammed Nazal, who after being released appeared on video with his hands bandaged, claiming he had been beaten in Israeli prison, only for Israel Prison Service footage taken during the exchange to reveal that he was healthy upon release.
In the same round was released 22-year-old Ahed Tamimi, considered an "icon" of Palestinian resistance, who claimed on Palestinian media outlets that she had been denied food and water during her imprisonment and was tortured by the guards.
Asakla was present at every round of exchange.
"I gave one of the freed women a bottle of water, and then I read in the Arab media that she claimed that the guards dragged her and shouted at her," he said. "I wasn't offended, but it hurt me that they were trying to portray us as inhumane. I was also next to Nazal who got on the bus, all smiles. I don't take it personally, but it makes me angry that this is how the world sees us. I tried to concentrate only on the hostages who returned home."
Elazari too participated in several hostage release rounds.
"I accompanied some of the female prisoners to the bathroom and they were a little rude, but it didn't interest me," she said. "I didn't look at their smiles or poses. It's a waste of our
The guards also participated in the hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, walked beside them, and handed them over to the Red Cross.
The release led to several instances of lies and slander against Israel. Most notably that of 18-year-old Mohammed Nazal, who after being released appeared on video with his hands bandaged, claiming he had been beaten in Israeli prison, only for Israel Prison Service footage taken during the exchange to reveal that he was healthy upon release.
In the same round was released 22-year-old Ahed Tamimi, considered an "icon" of Palestinian resistance, who claimed on Palestinian media outlets that she had been denied food and water during her imprisonment and was tortured by the guards.
Asakla was present at every round of exchange.
"I gave one of the freed women a bottle of water, and then I read in the Arab media that she claimed that the guards dragged her and shouted at her," he said. "I wasn't offended, but it hurt me that they were trying to portray us as inhumane. I was also next to Nazal who got on the bus, all smiles. I don't take it personally, but it makes me angry that this is how the world sees us. I tried to concentrate only on the hostages who returned home."
Elazari too participated in several hostage release rounds.
"I accompanied some of the female prisoners to the bathroom and they were a little rude, but it didn't interest me," she said. "I didn't look at their smiles or poses. It's a waste of our The guards also participated in the hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, walked beside them, and handed them over to the Red Cross.
The release led to several instances of lies and slander against Israel. Most notably that of 18-year-old Mohammed Nazal, who after being released appeared on video with his hands bandaged, claiming he had been beaten in Israeli prison, only for Israel Prison Service footage taken during the exchange to reveal that he was healthy upon release.
In the same round was released 22-year-old Ahed Tamimi, considered an "icon" of Palestinian resistance, who claimed on Palestinian media outlets that she had been denied food and water during her imprisonment and was tortured by the guards.
Asakla was present at every round of exchange.
"I gave one of the freed women a bottle of water, and then I read in the Arab media that she claimed that the guards dragged her and shouted at her," he said. "I wasn't offended, but it hurt me that they were trying to portray us as inhumane. I was also next to Nazal who got on the bus, all smiles. I don't take it personally, but it makes me angry that this is how the world sees us. I tried to concentrate only on the hostages who returned home."
Elazari too participated in several hostage release rounds.
"I accompanied some of the female
prisoners to the bathroom and they were a little rude, but it didn't
interest me," she said. "I didn't look at their smiles or poses. It's a
waste of our energy."
1 comment:
I worked in a prison for 1 year. It was a shitty job. I wouldn't be able to guard prisoners who tried to kill and torture my friends and family. Instead, put the terrorists in general population and assign prisoner building tenders to watch them. The practice was very effective in Texas back in the day.
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