The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report this morning saying Palestinians detained by Israeli authorities since the Oct. 7 attacks faced waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, the release of dogs, and other forms of torture and mistreatment. According to the report, thousands of Palestinians from Gaza—including medical staff, patients and residents fleeing the conflict, as well as captured fighters—"have been taken from Gaza to Israel, usually shackled and blindfolded. Thousands more have been detained in the West Bank and Israel. They have generally been held in secret, without being given a reason for their detention, access to a lawyer or effective judicial review,” the report states
A summary of the report, based on interviews with former detainees and other sources, decried a “staggering” number of detainees—including men, women, children, journalists and human rights defenders—and said such practices raise concerns about arbitrary detention. “The testimonies gathered by my office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
“In Gaza, mostly men and adolescent boys have been detained. Many have been taken into custody while sheltering in schools, hospitals and residential buildings, or at checkpoints during their displacement from north to south, the report finds,” according to the summary. “Israel has also not provided information regarding the fate or whereabouts of many of those detained, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been denied access to facilities where they are held,” the summary adds.
