WhatsApp exchanges among Israeli prison guards and testimony collected by investigators have revealed what an Israeli newspaper described as a routine pattern of severe violence against Palestinian detainees at Ketziot Prison in southern Israel.

They included a 2023 assault that resulted in the death of Thaer Abu Asab.

The Haaretz newspaper reported Tuesday that the messages were uncovered during an investigation into the death of Abu Asab, who died after being severely beaten by guards at the prison in November 2023.

During the assault, one female guard wrote to her partner, "You're going to be proud of me, of my shift. After what happened, the count took two hours and 23 minutes. Draw your own conclusions." She added, "They're doing CPR in the clinic right now, baby! God willing, that son of a thousand whores will die."

Another guard wrote, "Holy s***, what a count. We f@#$%^ them up so bad."

A third guard told a friend, "What an insane count. There's never been anything like it. We poured cheese on them, cracked some eggs. So much blood in the wings."

She later wrote, "OMG, they're doing CPR on a prisoner because we beat him. He's dead. Listen, it's funny how it all happened in an instant: Boom, count. Boom, dead prisoner."

Abu Asab, a Fatah member serving a 25-year prison sentence, was pronounced dead at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. The severe beating caused a heart injury that led to his death, according to an indictment cited by Haaretz.

Nearly three years later, prosecutors filed charges against 12 Israel Prison Service guards accused of beating Abu Asab and eight Palestinian prisoners in his cell.

The newspaper published other messages exchanged by guard Oshrit Eliga in December 2023 that investigators said pointed to a broader pattern of violence.

"A bunch of whores, sons of Amalek, surrendered right there in the street. They're sitting there on the ground in their underwear, blindfolded. I'm already getting myself and the shift ready for their arrival this Shabbat. We'll give them a proper Shabbat welcome," wrote Eliga.

Her friend replied, "Lol, your baton still working?"

"My baton's been disinfected more than a few times," Eliga responded.

She later wrote, "Picture you and me behind a partition with two prisoners cuffed to each other, and the shift commander's like, 'Go on, go nuts.' OMGGG, I swear you'd have a blast here with me."

Eliga added, "I wish I could prove it to you, show you something. I swear, girl, I beat the s*** out of them. You've never seen me like this. It's routine. Whatever batch comes in, if he doesn't end up with a busted kidney, I'm not letting him into the wing."

Guards' testimony under questioning also corroborated parts of the prisoners' accounts.

Another guard, Diana Troitsky, said the commander told personnel before the count that he had learned two friends had been killed in Gaza and was "shattered."

"We understood that we needed to beat them so they'd understand there was no cease-fire," she told investigators.

Troitsky said the commander told guards that "whatever happened that evening was his responsibility," that he had approval from senior officers and that "everyone knew what was going to happen."

She quoted him as saying, "If there's one thing I was taught at home, it's violence toward this scum. Those are the values I was raised with, and I'm going all the way with this. I don't care if I have to hand in my badge."

He also said the prison commander had backed him and given him "a free hand," according to her testimony.

Troitsky said guards then "lost it."

"Kicking, punching the prisoners. All the guards and all the Keter people in the cell took part in the assault," she said.

She added that the commander eventually shouted. "Stop!" after deciding the prisoners had "been beaten enough."

One Keter guard initially told investigators, "There was nothing unusual. I don't think any of us used force, because we go in, get them under control and leave."

When confronted with claims that guards shouted, "Who said hudna? There's no hudna, you son of a bitch," he responded, "I don't know anything about that."

Asked about batons, he said, "Batons? I personally didn't see any."

But investigators later found a WhatsApp message he sent after Abu Asab's death saying, "An announcement about a prisoner's death is about to go out to the press. He died when we went in."

"There were some serious beatdowns, but that's not for WhatsApp," the message added.

Arusi separately testified, "The commander authorized the use of force. Batons were used."

Asked how she explained Abu Asab's death, she said, "From the beating he took. They focused on him because he was the one who asked about the cease-fire. The commander and the guard said they beat the prisoner because he asked about it."

Eliga told investigators, "All the guards used excessive force."

"Only Keter drew batons. The instruction was to beat them, but not with batons. That was their own decision," she added.

She said the commander's instruction that "Keter goes in" meant "beats them."

A Keter guard described the violence as routine, telling investigators, "It was kind of routine, so we didn't report the incident to anyone."

"As far as the senior commanders were concerned, it was fine. That was the policy," he added.

Arusi said the commander was at the cell entrance during the assault.

"They were just beating the prisoners. They were on the floor, crying. The commander was at the cell entrance. He saw everything. He was the one who gave the order," she said.

Shortly after Abu Asab's death, Eliga wrote to her partner, "Baby, an update: He's just died."

She added that she was "very happy and satisfied, but now it's a mess. There was a lot of blood and they broke them."

"It'll be fine. I'm glad it happened. I'm willing to put my career on the line for this. I'm at peace with it. We all are," she wrote.

"The commander knew something like this would happen. He told us in the briefing and asked anyone who felt they couldn't do it to say so, because he really wanted to break them," she added.

As the investigation progressed, the main defendant also implicated senior prison officials.

"Do you know how many times they stormed cells while I was shift commander and didn't even tell me? They told me I didn't need to know," he said.

Asked who was involved, he replied, "Everyone, starting with the prison commander."

"He changes out of his uniform into Keter gear, goes into cells, and I hear screaming without knowing what's happening inside. Ultimately, it's my duty to follow his orders and procedures," he alleged.

Asked who else was involved, he said, "I have no idea who they are. People of all different ranks, senior people."

He also alleged, "I'm not the one turning off the cameras before an operation or a mission."

"What goes on there is harbu darbu," he said, using a Hebrew expression meaning all-out mayhem.

Ketziot Prison commander Brig. Gen. Yosef Knipes denied the allegations.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israel has carried out a genocidal war in Gaza that has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian authorities.