During the Gaza war, Israel has been accused of systematically torturing Palestinians detained in its prison system. This torture has been reported by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well as Israeli nonprofit human rights organizations such as Physicians for Human Rights Israel and B'Tselem.
According to these sources, Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza and in detainment in Israel in locations such as the Sde Teiman detention camp have been subjected to rape, gang-rape, sexualized torture, and mutilation, among other forms of sexual violence, as well as psychological and physical torture by both male and female Israeli soldiers and medical staff.
Some of the victims were United Nations staff forced to confess to terrorism offenses. Multiple reports also speak of prisoners who suffered from medical neglect for injuries sustained, which led to cases of arm and leg amputations. Their testimonies have been corroborated by whistleblowing Israeli staff and a CNN investigation.
As of August 2024, at least 53 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli military facilities since the beginning of the war.Janan Abdu,The writing was on the wall for Israel's torture of prisoners +972 magazine 14 May 2024 Numerous Palestinian detainees have provided testimony of torture by Israeli forces, including during interrogations, Israeli prison guards also spoke out. There were further reports of the Israeli torture of accused militants.
In response, Shin Bet officials stated they conduct militant interrogations within the Israeli legal framework. According to Yuval Ginbar, torture is considered legal under certain circumstances.
Background
Torture, ill-treatment, and sexual violence of detained Palestinians by Israel, have been reportedly prevalent for years before the 7 October attacks and invasion of Gaza, with documentation recorded by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and Amnesty International. There has been extensive sexual violence against both male and female detainees, with the most notable case of imprisoned Lebanese Amal leader Mustafa Dirani, who sued Israel on the claim of rape. According to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, torture is defined as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person" in order to extract information or serve out punishment.
Reports of Israeli torture Doctors reported humiliation, beatings, and being forced to kneel for hours. One released man from Shuja'iyya, Gaza City reported beatings, stating that a female Israeli soldier would beat a 72-year-old man. Another stated soldiers forced detainees to bark like dogs. A twenty-year-old man detained in the West Bank stated that he was blindfolded, beaten, burned with a cigarette, and treated "like an animal". Three brothers detained from the Gaza Strip described similar treatment in Israel prison, stating they were beaten, stripped to their underwear, and burnt with cigarettes. One released man stated, "They let dogs urinate on us and shoved sand on us. They threatened to shoot us."
Others described both physical and psychological torture. Five men reported being tortured over ten hours, including being beaten and submerged in cold water. One man stated that Palestinian prisoners were being "tortured relentlessly". He stated the detainees had been starved for three days. In a report by the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, a detainee stated, "I heard the sound of detainees who are getting tortured and beaten, as they are being cursed on by soldiers".
By NGOs
Amnesty International In November 2023, Amnesty International reported on cases of torture and degrading treatment by Israeli authorities, which it described as "horrifying", "gruesome", and "a particularly chilling public display of torture and humiliation of Palestinian detainees." Amnesty's Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, stated, "Arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment are war crimes when committed against protected persons in an occupied territory." In July 2024, Amnesty interviewed 27 released detainees, who stated they had been subjected to torture on at least one occasion while in Israeli prison.
United Nations The United Nations Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories called for an investigation into allegations of torture. In a statement, the Office said: "The massive rise in number of Palestinians arrested and detained, the number of reports of ill-treatment and humiliation suffered by those in custody, and the reported failure to adhere to basic due process raise serious questions about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law." On 19 January 2024, the Human Rights Office stated they had interviewed detainees who "described being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill-treatment, and to what may amount to torture... consistent with reports our Office has been gathering of the detention of Palestinians on a broad scale." On 19 January 2024, Ajith Sunghay, a Human Rights Office official stated, "There are reports of men who are subsequently released but only in diapers without any adequate clothing in this cold weather."
In March 2024, a UNRWA report reported instances of torture documented in Israeli prisons, including beatings and sexual assault. Some UNRWA employees reported being tortured to extract forced confessions. In an April 2024 report, UNRWA stated, "Male victims reported beatings to their genitals, while one detainee reported being made to sit on an electrical probe." In a July 2024 report, the UN stated that Israel had used dogs and waterboarding on Gazan detainees, and that at least 53 died. A group of United Nations special rapporteurs stated in August 2024 that they had received substantiated reports of "widespread abuse, torture, sexual assault and rape". The experts stated further that survivors reported "being attacked by dogs, waterboarding, suspension from ceilings and severe sexual and gender-based violence."
A report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called Israel's torture of Palestinians "a structural feature of the ongoing genocide and broader settler-colonial apartheid."
Israeli NGOs The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) stated that there was a "lot of evidence of cases of violence and cruel and humiliating treatment by prison guards", and called for an investigation into the deaths of detainees in Israeli custody. PCATI stated they had documented nine clear instances of torture, including sexual violence. Addameer reported that prisoners remained blindfolded and handcuffed during their detention and people were being killed in the military camps. Addameer further reported, "Statistics and documented testimonies from child detainees indicate that the majority of detained children have been subjected to one or more forms of physical and psychological torture." Adalah reported, "We're seeing really widespread and systemic use of many, many tools in order to inflict torture and ill-treatment on Palestinians". In July 2024, the executive director of HaMoked stated, "Violence is pervasive. It's very overcrowded. Every prisoner that we've met with has lost 30 pounds."
On 5 August 2024, B'Tselem released a report finding that Israeli torture of Palestinian detainees was so systemic and institutionalized that it should now be considered state policy. In its report, B'Tselem stated that "every inmate is deliberately subjected to severe, relentless pain and suffering, operate as de-facto torture camps." They further stated that prisoners were subjected to beatings, humiliation, sleep deprivation, and sexual violence. Director Yuli Novak said that Israel was running torture camps, whose conditions the organization blamed on Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister in charge of Israel's prison system.
Human Rights Watch On 3 January 2024, Human Rights Watch reported that Palestinian workers from Gaza detained in Israel since October 7 had been photographed naked, attacked by dogs, and dragged faced down in the gravel. In August 2024, an HRW report stated that released healthcare workers from Gaza described "humiliation, beatings, forced stress positions, prolonged cuffing and blindfolding, and denial of medical care. They also reported torture, including rape and sexual abuse by Israeli forces, denial of medical care, and poor detention conditions" while in Israel detention. A surgeon detained in Israeli prison stated, "Every minute we were beaten. I mean all over the body, on sensitive areas between the legs, the chest, the back. We were kicked all over the body and the face. They used the front of their boots which had a metal tip, then their weapons."
Other reports In a report on allegations of torture in Israeli prisons, Euro-Med Monitor stated prisoners were being treated like animals. The Wall Street Journal found detainees underwent psychological and physical abuse, including beatings during interrogations. The Commission for Detainees' Affairs alleged that prisoners and detainees were subject to bans on going outside, confiscation of belongings, reduction in food, torture and beatings, and deprivation of medical attention by Israeli authorities. A Defence for Children International report included the testimony of an incarcerated child who stated, "Around 18 children were severely beaten, screaming in pain. I saw police dogs attacking them, bleeding from the mouth and head." An additional Defence for Children report stated that the Israeli military was "systematically detaining and torturing" Palestinian children from Gaza.
In December 2023, The New York Times reported that Israel had interrogated medical personnel in Gaza under duress. Gaza's Ministry of Health similarly stated that Israeli interrogations of hospital staff were conducted "under duress". Following reports on the physical and psychological abuse of Marwan Barghouti, the U.S. Department of State requested Israel to "thoroughly and transparently investigate credible allegations of and ensure accountability for any abuses or violations". In a letter to Israel's attorney general, a doctor at an Israeli field hospital for detained Palestinians stated, "Inmates are fed through straws, defecate in diapers and are held [in] constant restraints, which violate medical ethics and the law."
In May 2024, an employee of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit stated she had been subject to beatings and abusive treatment in Israeli prison. The Commission for Detainees' Affairs stated that doctors at the Ramon prison were neglecting the medical needs of Palestinian detainees. In June 2024, a Palestinian man stated he had been tortured after being held for a month with no charges. The same month, the family of a mentally unwell man stated he was tortured during Israeli custody. Save the Children released a report stating, "Children are also among those recently found in mass graves, according to UN experts, with many showing signs of torture and summary executions".