Gaza Herald – Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, has reported that Israel systematically tortured Palestinians in detention during its war on Gaza, inflicting “exceptionally ruthless physical and psychological abuse” on men, women, and children. She described the treatment as punitive, deliberate, and designed to cause long-term collective suffering.
The report, titled “Torture and Genocide”, documents an unprecedented scale of abuse in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023. Prisoners were subjected to brutal beatings, sexual violence, starvation, lethal mistreatment, and the systematic denial of basic human necessities. Albanese emphasized that this campaign left deep and lasting scars on tens of thousands of Palestinians and their families.
According to Albanese, more than 18,500 Palestinians were arrested during the genocide, including at least 1,500 children. About 9,000 remained in detention at the time of the report, while more than 4,000 were subjected to enforced disappearance, raising grave concerns about violations of international law.
The UN expert noted that torture was not limited to physical abuse in custody. It was paired with a relentless campaign of forced displacement, mass killings, deprivation, and the destruction of homes and livelihoods, all designed to dominate, punish, and terrorize the population. Albanese characterized this as a system of “punitive collective vengeance” against Palestinians.
Albanese collected over 300 written testimonies from survivors, describing the physical and mental trauma inflicted on detainees. At the same time, she stressed that this report focuses specifically on Israel’s conduct and its systematic use of torture as an instrument of oppression.
The expert concluded that the international community must act to dismantle the system that allowed these abuses to persist. She called on states to uphold the Convention against Torture and to ensure accountability, warning that impunity has only fueled long-term harm and suffering in Gaza.
