The UN Committee against Torture condemned what it said was a “disproportionate” response by Israel to Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Friday, saying the policies Israel has since implemented could “amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading living conditions” for Palestinians in Gaza.
While it condemned the attacks by Hamas, the committee stated it was “deeply concerned about reports indicating a de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment.”
The war was kick-started between Israel and Hamas when the Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7, and murdered more than 1200 people, including children, women, and foreign nationals. In addition to the widespread use of murder and sexual violence, terror groups abducted 250 people to Gaza, including children.
Responding to the reports of mistreatment of Palestinians, the committee said it urged Israel “to establish an independent, impartial, and effective ad hoc investigatory commission to review and investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment committed during the current armed conflict, prosecute those responsible, including superior officers, and ensure the immediate entry of necessary humanitarian aid and aid workers into Gaza.”
Israel's alleged mistreatment of Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank
The alleged mistreatment reports included accounts of Israel depriving Palestinians of food and water, severe beatings, attacks by dogs, electrocution, waterboarding, and sexual violence. Some Palestinian prisoners are allegedly permanently shackled, denied access to a toilet, and forced to wear diapers.
Rights group claims that at least 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 2023, alleging claims of torture and medical neglect.
The Physicians for Human Rights Israel group said that at least 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 2023, alleging torture and medical neglect.
Humanitarian aid has been allowed into the Gaza Strip, and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announced on Friday that Israel had facilitated the establishment of a new field hospital to treat Palestinian civilians.
Beyond issues relating to the Israel-Hamas War, the committee also expressed concern over the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank, citing both increased settler violence and the use of administrative detention against terror suspects.
“The committee underscored its serious concern that the state party continues to lack a distinct offense criminalizing torture and that its legislation allows public officials to be exempted from criminal culpability under the so-called ‘necessity’ defense when unlawful physical pressure is applied during interrogations,” the committee wrote while also noting a lack of clarity around when such actions would be permitted.
Consequently, the committee “urged Israel to enact a distinct criminal offense of torture that incorporates a definition consistent with the convention, to provide information on the exact nature of the ‘special means’ employed, and to ensure that no exceptional circumstances are invoked to justify torture or ill-treatment.”