The United Nations committee on torture says there is evidence that Israel is pursuing a “de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture.”
The committee periodically reviews the records of all countries that have signed the anti-torture convention, taking testimony from their governments and human rights groups.
During Israel’s review, both Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups gave harrowing details about conditions in Israeli detention centers. Israel has allegedly detained thousands of Palestinians since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
Under Israeli laws on administrative detention and illegal combatants (suspects who cannot be classified as prisoners of war), they can be held for long periods without access to a lawyer or family members.
Many Palestinian families say they have waited months to even learn that a loved one has been detained, which amounts, according to the UN committee, to “forced disappearance.”
The committee was particularly critical of Israel’s alleged use of the Unlawful Combatants law to detain entire groups of Palestinians, including children, pregnant women and the elderly.
But it is the reported detention conditions that constitute the bleakest interpretation of the committee’s conclusions, published today.
Evidence suggests that Palestinians are regularly deprived of food and water, and subjected to severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding and sexual violence. Some are allegedly permanently chained, denied access to a bathroom and forced to wear diapers.
The committee concluded that such treatment “amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.” He said evidence of a “de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture” by Israel was one of the acts that constitute the crime of genocide under international law.
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
One committee member, Peter Vedel Kessing of Denmark, said he and his colleagues were “deeply shocked” by what they heard. Committee members also said they were deeply concerned about the lack of investigations or prosecutions into allegations of torture. They called on Israel to launch independent investigations and ensure that those responsible, including senior military officials, are held accountable.
Israel, which has long accused the UN of bias against it, made no public comment today on the committee’s findings, but during committee hearings its ambassador, Daniel Meron, described the torture allegations as “disinformation.”
He said Israel was “committed to fulfilling its obligations in accordance with our values and moral principles, even in the face of challenges posed by a terrorist organization.”
In its conclusions, the UN committee made sure to unequivocally condemn the Hamas attack of October 2023 and recognized the security challenges facing Israel.
But he also warned that violations of international law by one side did not justify the other doing the same. According to the convention, to which Israel is a party, the prohibition of torture is absolute: it is not permitted under any circumstances.
However, Israel’s domestic law is less clear and suggests that the convention only applies to Israeli territory, and not to the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank, an interpretation that many international lawyers dispute.
The findings come amid growing pressure on Israel over its human rights record. In Geneva on Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Office said the killing of two Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers resembled a “summary execution.” Video of the killing showed the two men with their hands raised, apparently surrendering to Israeli forces.
And UN aid agencies say conditions for people in the Gaza Strip remain dire, despite the ceasefire. Thousands of families are braving the winter cold and rain in tents, they warn, not enough aid supplies are arriving and Israeli airstrikes against what Israel says are Hamas targets continue.
