AhlulBayt News Agency: The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) has reported that Palestinians abducted from Gaza are facing systematic abuse and torture in Israeli prisons.
On Monday, PCHR published a 129-page report documenting the widespread use of torture and inhumane treatment of Palestinian detainees taken by Israeli forces since October 7, 2023.
The report, titled Torture and Genocide: The Shattered Futures of Former Palestinian Detainees in Gaza, details crimes committed against Palestinian abductees based on testimonies from 100 former detainees, including 10 women, and legal visits to 53 others still in Israeli custody.
According to PCHR, the treatment of Palestinians in Israeli detention constitutes torture and is an integral part of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
Key findings include the mass arbitrary detention of civilians—children, the elderly, and the wounded—taken from homes, hospitals, shelters, and streets while seeking refuge from Israeli bombardments.
Israeli forces reportedly stripped detainees of their belongings and dignity, arresting them under brutal conditions, and subjected them to torture solely based on their identity.
Many detainees were released in a severely weakened state, suffering lasting injuries, and left in war zones with little chance of survival. PCHR concluded that Israeli authorities deliberately created these conditions to induce a slow death and physically destroy the Palestinian population.
The report also documented the detention of Palestinians without charge or legal counsel in dire conditions, including exposure to physical and psychological torture such as beatings, electrocution, suspension, and sexual violence.
It further highlights evidence of intent to destroy the population of Gaza, linking genocidal rhetoric from senior Israeli officials to actions carried out by military personnel, particularly in their systematic use of torture.
PCHR states that thousands of Palestinian detainees remain in Israeli custody, including children, the elderly, and disabled individuals, with their whereabouts unknown. Families, lawyers, and humanitarian groups have been denied access, effectively making them victims of enforced disappearance.
An online reporting platform launched by PCHR in August 2024 has received hundreds of cases of enforced disappearances. The organization claims these acts were committed with the intent to erase Gaza’s Palestinian population.
PCHR is calling on international bodies to enforce laws prohibiting genocide and torture and to investigate Israel’s crimes under universal jurisdiction.
The rights group also urges the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor to demand unrestricted access to detention sites and expand the charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former war minister Yoav Gallant to include genocide.
Despite widespread acknowledgment of Israel’s use of torture against Palestinians in Gaza, its role within the broader genocide remains underexplored.
The report aims to bridge this gap by framing torture not just as a human rights violation or war crime, but as a systematic component of Israel’s campaign against Palestinians.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has continued for over 18 months, leaving 2.3 million residents in dire conditions.
Since October 2023, Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults have killed nearly 53,000 Palestinians, including thousands of women and children, while more than 111,000 others have been injured. Countless victims remain buried under rubble, with the full scale of devastation yet to be assessed.
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