Stop Israel’s Human Rights Abuses of Palestinian Hostages

I am writing to bring to your urgent attention the continuation of harrowing accounts from Israel’s detention camps. The testimonies of Palestinian detainees reveal a horrifying pattern of systemic abuse, including torture, starvation, medical neglect, and sexual violence.Accounts describe torture, being beaten into signing false confessions, subjected to burns with hot water, doused with sewage, left shackled, and in freezing conditions in torn tents. Injuries left untreated have developed sores and boils, and the spread of scabies amongst detainees. One woman describes having her hijab forcibly removed, and threatened by Israeli soldiers with beatings and dogs. One man described the beating and deterioration of his cell-mate, who later died. By the end of 2024, more than 50 detainees had been confirmed dead in Israeli detention camps since October 2023. These accounts of abuse align with past investigations by human rights groups, including a May 2024 CNN investigationand a New York Times exposé, which revealed shocking abuses such as forced amputations without anaesthesia, torture and sexual violence. Multiple testimonies corroborate the use of rape to torture detainees. The video of Israeli soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian detainee in August 2024 exposed the impunity of these continuing human rights abuses, and the use of rape was later described as “legitimate” and justified by Israeli leaders. Such atrocities are direct violations of international law, including the Geneva Conventions, which protect the rights of detainees. Yet, Israel continues these acts with impunity. These testimonies are not isolated; they represent a systemic policy of torture, dehumanisation and terror.We must suspend all relations with Israel. An arms embargo, a two-way trade embargo, and an end to all diplomatic relations with the state on trial for genocide and whose leaders are wanted war criminals at the ICC is the bare minimum. Sanctions have proven effective in halting egregious human rights abuses in other contexts; they must be applied here. This is not a radical position, it is enforcing basic human rights and upholding international law, and it is your distinct responsibility to do so.