Gaza Herald – The UN Human Rights Office announced that the torture and mistreatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention camps is “unacceptable,” urging independent investigations into all deaths, abuse, and inhumane treatment inside detention facilities.
Spokesperson Thameen al-Kheetan stated that the office has “systematically documented” patterns of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual and gender-based assaults against Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, with reports also referencing cases involving minors. He stressed that some reports require urgent, impartial accountability mechanisms.
The remarks follow renewed attention triggered by a New York Times investigation by Nicholas Kristof, which detailed reports of sexual assault and rape involving Palestinian detainees, reportedly carried out by Israeli soldiers, prison guards, and settlers.
In a broader context, similar concerns have been raised by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor in its reporting on Palestinian detainees, where it documented patterns of abuse and called for independent international forensic investigations into detention conditions and treatment of detainees.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, in a March 2026 report to the UN Human Rights Council, also described torture in detention as having become “systemic,” characterizing parts of the prison system as a “laboratory of calculated cruelty,” and attributing responsibility to institutional levels of authority.
The UN Human Rights Office confirmed that at least 90 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023, including a 17-year-old who reportedly showed signs of severe starvation prior to death.
The UN further described the situation as reflecting a “deeply flawed detention and justice system,” citing widespread allegations of arbitrary detention and lack of fair trial guarantees, and called on Israel to uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law as an occupying power.
