(Bloomberg) -- Israel has arbitrarily detained thousands of Palestinians since the start of its war with Hamas, subjecting many to “deplorable conditions” that include torture and sexual violence, according to a new United Nations report.
The majority of arrests carried out by Israeli forces in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas appear to be “fundamentally punitive,” the UN’s human rights office said. Most detainees have been held in secret for prolonged periods without any information on why they have been arrested or any contact with their family members, it said.
The issue of how Palestinian detainees are treated has triggered domestic turmoil in Israel this week after protests broke out against the arrest of soldiers suspected of abusing a prisoner. It led to a clash within the administration, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accusing far-right government colleagues of undermining the nation’s war effort by encouraging the demonstrations.
“Concrete complaints regarding inappropriate behavior on the part of the correctional staff are forwarded to the relevant authorities and dealt with accordingly,” a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces said in a written statement in response to a question about the report. “Investigations are opened in cases in which suspicion of misconduct requires the IDF do so.”
Israel has been carrying out an offensive in Gaza since Hamas invaded the country on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 others. Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to the health ministry run by Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist group by the US and European Union, and doesn’t differentiate in its data between combatants and civilians.
While conditions faced by Palestinians in Israeli custody prior to the war in Gaza were “already of serious concern,” the situation “worsened dramatically thereafter,” the UN said. At least 53 detainees have died in Israeli facilities since Oct. 7, and many have reported that they were subject to beatings, sexual violence and starvation, according to the study.
The testimonies gathered by the UN represent a “flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, said in a statement. He called for an independent and transparent investigation into the findings, and urged Israel to release all Palestinians who have been arbitrarily detained.
The war has put increasing strain on Israel’s relations with the UN and its institutions.
The International Court of Justice, the UN’s judicial organ, is weighing a case brought by South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a charge that Israel denies. Israel has also said that members of the main UN agency that provides aid for Palestinians took part in the Oct. 7 attack, while the UN says Israeli officials haven’t provided evidence to back the claim.
--With assistance from Alisa Odenheimer.
(Updates with Israeli military comment in fourth paragraph.)
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