NEW YORK, 24 July. - (ANA) - As Israel pressed ahead with its macabre plan to surround a prison holding Palestinian detainees with crocodile-filled trenches, Human Rights Watch told The New Arab the project was the latest sign of the "normalised cruelty" inside Israel's detention system.

 

Israeli forces began construction on Wednesday around Ketziot prison, one of Israel's most notorious detention facilities for Palestinian prisoners, where one of its special wings is being surrounded by trenches stretching almost 170 metres as part of a plan to use crocodiles as an instrument of intimidation.

 

Sarah Sanbar, acting Israel and Palestine researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the proposal reflected the extent to which abuse inside Israeli prisons had become normalised.

 

“Minister Ben-Gvir's idea that crocodiles should guard a prison is so cartoonishly cruel that it should be laughable. Unfortunately, it's the latest sign of how normalised cruelty has become inside these facilities," Sanbar said.

 

"Torture, ill-treatment, and abuse in detention have been documented for years by Human Rights Watch, the UN and other groups, but these abuses have been met with impunity," she added.

 

“Rather than investing millions in proposals that amount to little more than performative cruelty, the Israeli government should launch independent, transparent investigations into the documented allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and prosecute those responsible, including at senior levels," she said.

 

Helmy Al-Araj, director of the Center for Defending Freedoms (Hurriyat Center), also condemned the move, telling The New Arab it represented an unprecedented escalation in Israel's campaign against Palestinian prisoners.

 

"This step, which reflects unprecedented racism and sadism, comes as part of a broader campaign targeting the Palestinian prisoners' movement, subjecting detainees to abuse, complete isolation from the outside world, starvation and torture, while also inflicting suffering on their families," he said.

 

Al-Araj said Israel had already committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinian prisoners but was continuing to search for new methods of abuse.

 

"Every day it searches for new and unprecedented ways to torture prisoners and female detainees and place their lives at risk, satisfying a desire for revenge and the growing racism within Israeli society," he said.

 

He also said Israeli politicians were exploiting Palestinian prisoners for political gain.

 

"Prisoners have become a bargaining chip between Israel's fascist parties, with their suffering turned into an electoral issue ahead of future Israeli elections," he added.

 

Al-Araj said the international community had failed to intervene despite alleged abuses continuing openly since the start of Israel's war on Gaza.

 

"The most dangerous aspect is that we are not speaking about crimes that have already taken place, but crimes that remain ongoing and continue at this very moment," he said.

 

Israel's Public Security Ministry confirmed the construction, allocating 21 million shekels ($6.3 million) to build the moats, which cannot be seen from outside the prison, according to Ynet.

 

The ministry also said the Israel Prison Service had prepared a plan for managing the reptiles, including their maintenance, supervision and housing, while prison officers had received training on how to handle the animals.

 

The work comes after the Israel Prison Service visited zoos last week to learn how crocodiles could be incorporated into the prison complex.

 

Israel's environment minister removed the protected status of Nile crocodiles on 16 June to pave the way for them to be used as an instrument of incarceration and deterrence, a move opposed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA).

 

The INPA reportedly held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the proposal, with all participants opposing the plan.

 

While more than 200 crocodiles are kept at the Crocoloco crocodile farm in the Arava desert, the farm told Ynet that nobody had contacted it about supplying reptiles for prison use.

 

Inspired by the controversial US immigration detention centre known as "Alligator Alcatraz", far-right extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir first proposed the idea in December.

 

Located in the Negev desert, Ketziot prison, also known as Al-Naqab prison, holds Palestinian prisoners from the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including sections designated for Palestinians classified by Israel as "security" detainees.

 

Members of the Palestinian Prisoners' Society previously described the proposal to The New Arab as a form of "psychological intimidation".

 

Human rights organisations have for years documented widespread allegations of torture, starvation, sexual violence and systematic ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners held at Ketziot and other Israeli detention facilities.

 

Since Israel's war on Gaza began, Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians, many held without charge or on sweeping security allegations, while rights groups have documented widespread abuse throughout Israel's prison system.

 

Ben-Gvir has repeatedly championed harsher conditions for Palestinian prisoners and has previously published videos from Ketziot's "special" wing showcasing the punitive conditions imposed on detainees.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/24 July 2026 - - -