A United Nations committee has accused Israel of maintaining “a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture” against Palestinian detainees, according to a report covering the past two years. The UN Committee Against Torture expressed “deep concern” over allegations including severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding, prolonged stress positions, and sexual violence.
The report, published on Friday, also highlighted claims that detainees were humiliated by being made to act like animals or urinated on, systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive use of restraints, in some cases resulting in amputation. The committee raised concerns about Israel’s use of its unlawful combatants law to justify prolonged detention without trial, noting that as of September, 3,474 Palestinians were held in administrative detention.
The UN experts drew attention to the high proportion of detained children, with the age of criminal responsibility set at 12, and reported that children younger than 12 had also been detained. Children classified as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, solitary confinement, and lack of access to education, the report said. It appealed to Israel to end the use of solitary confinement for minors.
Over the course of the Gaza war, 75 Palestinians have died in custody, a figure the committee described as “abnormally high” and exclusively affecting Palestinian detainees. It noted that no state officials have been held accountable for those deaths. Despite Israel’s denial of torture, the committee pointed out that the inspector overseeing interrogation complaints had brought no criminal prosecutions for torture or ill-treatment in the past two years.
The report’s release coincided with a video showing three Israeli border police officers shooting two unarmed Palestinian men, Youssef Asasa and Mahmoud Abdallah, at close range in Jenin. The officers were released after questioning. The incident further underscores the committee’s concerns about impunity.
