The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a thematic report on Wednesday, documenting the detention of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory against the backdrop of escalating hostilities in Gaza.
The report titled “Detention in the context of the escalation of hostilities in Gaza (October 2023-June 2024)” entails accounts of severe human rights violations carried out by Israeli security forces in detention facilities between October 2023 and June 2024. The findings are based on extensive monitoring and data collection by the OHCHR office in cooperation with civil society, NGOs and governmental entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It includes findings from interviews with former detainees, victims and witnesses.
In the report, the OHCHR estimates that thousands of Palestinians have been detained since October 7, 2023, including at least 40 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staff members. Most detainees are men and adolescent boys, though women and young girls have also been detained in large numbers. Additional data from a Palestinian prisoner’s organization indicates a record high of 8,910 detainees between October 7, 2023, and May 28, 2024. This figure includes 295 women, 630 children, as well as temporarily detained individuals who have been released without charges. The OHCHR has found a majority of arrests arbitrary in nature, lacking legal grounds and restrictions on access to a lawyer and due process. Additionally, there is evidence that several incarceration orders targeted individuals for exercising fundamental human rights, such as freedom of expression.
With regard to detention facilities, the report identifies instances of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including sexual and gender-based violence under inhumane detention conditions. These conditions involve the restriction of food, water, sanitation, medical treatment and electricity. Military-run detention facilities, in particular, have been found to severely violate basic human rights standards, with reports of open violence, ill-treatment and regular humiliation of detainees. Sexual and gender-based violence has been reported for both men and women, including forced nudity, electrocution of genitals, humiliating strip searches, sexual slurs and threats of rape toward women. These violations are supported by testimonies from victims as well as video and photographic evidence.
The OHCHR’s legal analysis identifies serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law inflicted on Palestinian detainees by the Israeli security forces since October 2023. Specifically, violations of the right to life and liberty, as well as acts of torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence could constitute war crimes under international law. The report further highlights potential violations of Article 50 of the Hague Regulations as well as Articles 27 and 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention in light of 15 bodies of deceased Palestinian detainees, which are currently being withheld by Israeli security forces.
The release of the report follows a statement by UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Jill Edwards earlier this year, calling on the Israeli government to investigate allegations of torture and inhumane treatment of detained Palestinians since October 7, 2023. Since October 7, the international community has repeatedly raised concerns over gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
