Full Analysis Summary
Detention Conditions at Rakefet Prison
Israel is holding about 100 Palestinians underground at Rakefet prison without charge or sunlight.
Human rights lawyers and PCATI describe these conditions as torture and illegal under international humanitarian law.
The Guardian reports that this situation continues despite a mid-October ceasefire in which Israel released 1,950 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza.
More than 1,000 others remain detained under similar, contested conditions.
Israeli officials claim Rakefet is being prepared for elite fighters from Hamas and Hezbollah.
However, lawyers who visited the site found civilians, including a nurse arrested at work and a teenager detained at a checkpoint.
Israel’s Prison Service has not disclosed the identities or status of the detainees.
Il Sole 24 ORE independently reports that detainees are held underground at Rakefet in harsh, sunless conditions.
The prison was reopened after the 7 October attacks despite having been closed in 1985 due to inhumane conditions.
Coverage Differences
narrative
The Guardian (Western Mainstream) frames the story around legality and scale, linking the Rakefet detentions to the mid-October release of 1,950 and noting that over 1,000 Palestinians remain detained under similar conditions. Il Sole 24 ORE (Other) centers on the carceral site itself—its reopening after being shuttered in 1985 for inhumane conditions—and the immediate severity of conditions underground.
tone
The Guardian (Western Mainstream) emphasizes legal terminology—'legally contested' and 'violating international humanitarian law'—and institutional opacity by Israel’s Prison Service. Il Sole 24 ORE (Other) uses stark, physical detail about underground incarceration and lack of sunlight to convey severity.
Conditions of Israeli Detentions
Lawyers report that Israel keeps detainees in windowless, unventilated underground cells, depriving them of natural light, adequate food, medical care, and any contact with family or the outside world.
Il Sole 24 ORE reports that guards beat prisoners, sic dogs on them, and trample them, and that some detainees get as little as five minutes outside their cells every other day.
The Guardian corroborates the gravity by quoting PCATI’s assessment that these practices are violent, amount to torture, and violate international humanitarian law.
Both sources tie the current detentions to the post–October 7 carceral escalation, with Il Sole 24 ORE stressing the prison’s revival despite its earlier closure for inhumane conditions.
Coverage Differences
detail emphasis
Il Sole 24 ORE (Other) provides granular descriptions of specific abuses—dog attacks, trampling, and five-minute outings—while The Guardian (Western Mainstream) foregrounds legal characterization and international law violations rather than enumerating specific abuse modalities.
context
The Guardian (Western Mainstream) connects conditions to broader detention patterns since the war and notes institutional non-comment from the Israeli Prison Service. Il Sole 24 ORE (Other) situates conditions within Rakefet’s notorious history—closed in 1985 for inhumane conditions—then reopened after October 7.
Detention of Palestinians in Israel
Who Israel is imprisoning is contested.
Israeli officials claim Rakefet is being prepared to hold elite Hamas and Hezbollah fighters.
However, lawyers who entered the facility found civilians, including a nurse arrested at work and a teenager seized at a checkpoint.
Classified data indicates most Palestinians imprisoned during the war were civilians.
Il Sole 24 ORE reports that among the roughly 100 detainees, at least two are civilians.
The primary eyewitness information comes from lawyers representing detainees.
The Guardian says Israel’s Prison Service refuses to provide names or legal status, aggravating the opacity around who is being held and on what basis.
Coverage Differences
contradiction
The Guardian (Western Mainstream) reports Israeli officials’ claim about detaining elite fighters, but contrasts it with PCATI lawyers’ findings that detainees include civilians, and with classified data that most imprisoned Palestinians during the war were civilians. Il Sole 24 ORE (Other) reinforces the civilian presence by noting two civilians and attributing details to detainees’ lawyers.
opacity
The Guardian (Western Mainstream) stresses institutional silence—Israel’s Prison Service has not commented on identities or status—whereas Il Sole 24 ORE (Other) emphasizes that the most detailed information flows from defense lawyers due to that opacity.
Detention Conditions at Rakefet
The scale and legality remain disputed, but both sources document Israel’s deliberate use of an underground site with a documented history of cruelty to hold Palestinians incommunicado and without sunlight.
The Guardian adds broader scale—1,950 released during a ceasefire and over 1,000 still detained in similar conditions—and calls the regime violent and tantamount to torture under international humanitarian law.
Il Sole 24 ORE foregrounds the revived site itself—shuttered in 1985 for inhumane conditions and reopened after 7 October—and gives detailed accounts of beatings, dog attacks, and extreme isolation.
Together, these accounts depict Israel operating a clandestine carceral system at Rakefet that isolates Palestinians from families and lawyers and inflicts conditions lawyers call torture.
Coverage Differences
missed information
The Guardian (Western Mainstream) provides macro detention numbers (1,950 released; over 1,000 remain), which Il Sole 24 ORE (Other) does not include. Il Sole 24 ORE uniquely provides the 1985 closure history and physical-abuse specifics absent from The Guardian’s snippet.
tone
The Guardian (Western Mainstream) presents an institutional-legal assessment of torture and IHL violations, while Il Sole 24 ORE (Other) uses concrete, visceral descriptions of deprivation and physical abuse, emphasizing the underground, sunless environment.