The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday accused Israel of detaining thousands of Palestinians in secret locations in Gaza and the West Bank and subjecting them to mistreatment that could amount to torture.
Addressing journalists in Geneva by video link from Gaza, Ajith Sunghay, OHCHR representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said he met “a number” of released detainees who said they’d been held by Israel Defense Forces for between 30 and 55 days.
“Getting to the bottom of numbers has been extremely difficult, but we have heard that it runs into the thousands,” said Sunghay.
“They described being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill treatment and to what may amount to torture,” he added. “There are reports of men who were subsequently released — but only in diapers, without any adequate clothing in this cold weather.”
Sunghay also said the released detainees “reported being blindfolded for long periods — some of them for several consecutive days,” and that most said “they were taken at some time into Israel,” although they could not determine specifically where.
OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that her agency had been in touch with Israeli authorities regarding allegations of abuse.
“We have raised our concerns with the Israeli authorities about ill treatment, which would amount to torture of detainees in the occupied Palestinian territory repeatedly prior to October 7 and since then.
“Unfortunately, we have not received any response,” she said.
VOA contacted the Israeli mission in Geneva for comment but did not get a response.
Militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, and abducting 250 people as hostages. The brutal assault elicited a fierce response by Israeli forces, which, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, has killed more than 24,000 people — 70% of them women and children — and injured at least another 60,000.
OHCHR said Israel must ensure that all those arrested or detained are treated in line with international norms and standards of humanitarian law, and that all instances of abuse are investigated.
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, has estimated that 1.7 million people are internally displaced, most crammed into overcrowded makeshift shelters in southern Gaza.
Hospitals in dire situation
The World Health Organization reports only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional, and those that are open are suffering from extreme shortages of medicines, supplies and staff.
“Due to the lack of access to hospitals, 60,000 pregnant women are at risk of not receiving adequate care in case of complications,” said OCHA’s latest status report.
It also said “hundreds of cases of miscarriages and premature births have been reported since the outbreak of hostilities,” an assessment confirmed by the U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
“Mothers face unimaginable challenges in accessing adequate medical care, nutrition and protection before, during and after giving birth,” said Tess Ingram, UNICEF communication specialist, speaking from Amman, Jordan.
“These conditions put mothers at risk from miscarriages, stillbirths, preterm labor, maternal mortality and emotional trauma. Seeing newborn babies suffer, while some mothers bleed to death, should keep us all awake at night,” she said. “Knowing two very young Israeli children abducted on the 7th of October have still not been released should also keep us awake.”
Israel rejects criticisms that the Israel Defense Forces are targeting Palestine civilians by attacking hospitals in Gaza.
In a news conference October 27, Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagai said, “In this war, all options are on the table.” He said that “Hamas has turned hospitals into command-and-control centers and hideouts for Hamas terrorists and commanders” as justification for possible airstrikes on hospitals.
Reuters reported that Israel raided Al-Shifa hospital on November 15, saying that it had found a command center and weapons and combat gear belonging to Hamas in Gaza’s biggest hospital.
Ingram said Friday that nearly 20,000 babies had been born into war in the 105 days of escalating fighting in the Gaza Strip.
“That is a baby born into this horrendous war every 10 minutes,” she said. “Becoming a mother should be a time for celebration. In Gaza, it is another child delivered into hell.”
