UN Report Finds Palestinians Face Severe Abuses in Israeli Detention
Kyle Anzalone
The UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) released a report showing that Gazans rounded up by the Israeli military have been subjected to severe abuses. UNRWA found some of its employees were subject to coercion and forced to make false statements about the organization’s alleged ties to Hamas. Tel Aviv used those confessions to persuade Washington and over a dozen other nations to cut funding for UNRWA.
Published on Tuesday, the new report details how Israeli soldiers in Gaza have rounded up thousands of people throughout the months-long conflict. Those Palestinians have been moved into various detention centers across Israel and face inhumane conditions and brutal treatment by the military.
💬 “Ill-treatment…included being subjected to beatings while made to lie on a thin mattress on top of rubble for hours without food, water or access to a toilet, with their legs and hands bound with plastic ties,” UNRWA said.
💬 “Several detainees reported being forced into cages and attacked by dogs. Some released detainees, including a child, had dog bite wounds on their body,” the report continued. “Detainees were threatened with prolonged detention, injury, or the killing of family members if they did not provide the requested information.”
Some of those who endured torture were UNRWA employees who were forced to make false confessions about the agency’s supposed ties to Palestinian militant groups. “[UNRWA staff] reported being subjected to threats and coercion while in detention and being pressured during interrogations to make forced confessions against the agency,” the report explained, “including that the agency has affiliations with Hamas and that UNRWA staff took part in the 7 October attacks against Israel.”
