UN Panel Says Israel Conducts ‘Real Policy of Atrocities’

The United Nations Committee on Torture has said there is evidence that Israel operates a “de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture”.

The Committee regularly reviews the records of all countries that have signed the Convention against Torture, taking testimony from their governments and human rights groups.

During Israel’s review both Israeli and Palestinian rights groups provided disturbing details about conditions in Israeli detention centers. On October 7, 2023, Israel allegedly detained thousands of Palestinians following a Hamas attack.

Under Israel’s laws on administrative detention and illegal combatants – suspects who cannot be classified as prisoners of war – can be held for long periods without access to lawyers or family members.

Many Palestinian families say they have waited months to find out that a loved one has been detained, an amount the UN committee said amounted to “implemented disappearances”.

The committee was particularly critical of Israel’s reported use of illegal martial law to detain entire groups of Palestinians, including children, pregnant women and the elderly.

But the committee’s findings, published today, make for the most dire reading given the reported conditions of detention.

Evidence shows Palestinians are routinely deprived of food and water and suffer severe beatings, dog attacks, electric shocks, waterboarding and sexual violence. Some are permanently shackled, denied access to toilets and forced to wear diapers.

The committee concluded that such behavior amounted to “war crimes and crimes against humanity”. It said Israel’s “de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture” is one of the acts that constitute the crime of genocide under international law.

Israel has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

One member of the committee, Peter Wedel Kessing of Denmark, said he and his colleagues were “horrified” by what they heard. Committee members also said they were deeply concerned about the lack of investigations or prosecutions of allegations of torture. He called on Israel to launch an independent investigation and hold those responsible, including senior military officers, accountable.

Israel, which accuses the UN of bias, did not comment publicly on the committee’s findings today, but its ambassador Daniel Meron described the torture allegations as “distorted information” during the committee’s hearing.

He said Israel was “committed to carrying out its responsibilities in accordance with our moral values ​​and principles, even in the face of challenges posed by the terrorist organization”.

In its conclusion, the UN committee was careful to unequivocally condemn the October 2023 Hamas attack and acknowledge the security challenges facing Israel.

But it has also warned that violation of international law by one side does not make it right for the other side to do the same. Under the Convention, to which Israel is a party, the ban on torture is absolute: it is not permitted under any circumstances.

However, Israel’s domestic law is less clear, suggesting that the convention applies only to Israeli territory, not to the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank—a definition disputed by many international lawyers.

The findings come amid mounting pressure on Israel over its human rights record. Friday in Geneva, the United Nations human rights office said The killing of two Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank looked like a “summary execution”.. In the video of the killing, two men are seen surrendering to Israeli forces with their hands raised.

And UN aid agencies say the situation for people in the Gaza Strip remains dire despite the ceasefire. Thousands of families are facing winter cold and rain in tents, they warn, with insufficient aid supplies and Israel continuing to launch Israeli airstrikes on Hamas targets.