A new United Nations report has delivered a devastating indictment of Israel's treatment of Palestinian detainees, accusing the state of having a 'de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture'.
The findings, published by the UN Committee against Torture, cover the period since the beginning of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023. The committee of ten independent experts expressed profound alarm over the 'deep concern over allegations of repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence'.
Systematic Abuse and Inhumane Treatment
The report paints a harrowing picture of the conditions faced by Palestinians in Israeli custody. Detainees were reportedly subjected to humiliating treatment, 'being made to act like animals or being urinated on'. The committee also highlighted the systematic denial of medical care and the excessive use of restraints, which in some severe cases has led to amputation.
A particularly troubling aspect is the widespread application of Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law. This legislation is used to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children. As of the end of September, Israeli human rights group B'Tselem reported that 3,474 Palestinians were being held in 'administrative detention'.
Children in Detention and a Culture of Impunity
The UN committee raised specific concerns about the detention of children, noting that Israel's age of criminal responsibility is 12, but that children younger than 12 have also been detained. Those categorised as security prisoners face 'severe restrictions on family contact, may be held in solitary confinement, and do not have access to education', in direct violation of international standards.
The report underscores a severe accountability crisis, noting that 75 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody over the course of the Gaza war. This death toll was described as 'abnormally high' and appears to have 'exclusively affected the Palestinian detainee population'. Critically, the committee states that 'no state officials have been held responsible or accountable for such deaths'.
Despite Israel's government repeatedly denying the use of torture, the committee pointed out that the official inspector tasked with investigating interrogation complaints had brought 'no criminal prosecutions for acts of torture and ill-treatment' over the past two years.
Recent Incident Highlights Broader Concerns
The report's publication coincided with a separate incident in Jenin, where three Israeli border police officers were questioned over the fatal shooting of two detained Palestinians, Youssef Asasa and Mahmoud Abdallah. Video evidence shows the two men, who were claimed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad as fighters, emerging from a building with their hands up and lifting their shirts to show they were unarmed.
The footage shows them being briefly detained before being shot at close range after an officer appeared to order them back inside the building. The officers claimed they 'felt an immediate and tangible threat', though the video does not show obvious resistance from the two men. The officers were later released on condition they not discuss the case.
The UN committee concluded that the daily imposition of Israeli policies in occupied Palestine, taken as a whole, 'may amount to torture', marking one of the most severe condemnations of Israeli practices by an international body to date.
