Trending 
The United Nations has received disturbing testimony detailing alleged torture and abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli authorities since October 7, 2023, prompting renewed calls for an impartial international investigation.
The evidence was submitted by the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), a UK-based organisation that holds special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. The submission, reported by The National, draws on documentation compiled by Khaled Mahajneh, a lawyer working with the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
The PRC described the abuse as part of a dramatic escalation in what it claims is a systematic pattern of torture and mistreatment. Methods cited include extreme physical assaults, intentional starvation, prolonged suspension in painful positions, and medical negligence leading to death. Reports also include dog attacks and limb amputations performed without anaesthesia.
One particularly grave case involves the alleged rape of a Palestinian detainee by an Israeli prison guard. The PRC stated that these accounts have been verified by prominent human rights organisations, including Physicians for Human Rights–Israel and B’Tselem.
According to the organisation, many detainees from Gaza are being held in secret military detention centres, such as Anatot and Sde Teiman, where legal safeguards are absent. Detainees are reportedly denied access to lawyers and have been blocked from receiving visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The PRC further accused Israeli authorities of deliberately using political classifications such as “unlawful combatants” and “terrorists” to circumvent international humanitarian protections. The group has called for an independent international inquiry into the alleged acts of torture and sexual violence and urged the inclusion of these cases in the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigations.
In its statement, the PRC appealed to the global community to apply pressure on Israel to comply with international standards on the treatment of prisoners. It warned that silence or superficial condemnation by international actors “amounts to political complicity” in ongoing human rights violations.
