I am writing to bring to your immediate attention the disturbing recent developments regarding the torture of Palestinians in Israeli concentration camps.
These reports provide harrowing details of the extreme physical and psychological abuse inflicted upon Palestinian detainees. Multiple detainees, including Mr. Ibrahim Shaheen and Mr. Bakr, reported being subjected to electric shocks while seated in wired chairs. Mr. Shaheen described being shocked approximately half a dozen times during interrogations, leading to severe trauma and unconsciousness.
Moreover, there have been accounts of sexual violence. Mr. al-Hamlawi, a detainee, recounted being forcibly pressed against a metal stick fixed to the ground, which penetrated his rectum, causing severe bleeding and unbearable pain. Similar accounts were detailed in a leaked UNRWA report, where another detainee described the experience as sitting “on something like a hot metal stick,” which felt like fire and resulted in the death of a fellow detainee after they were subjected to a similar ordeal.
The conditions in these camps are deplorable.
Reports indicate systematic physical violence, including beatings and amputations due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing. Medical procedures are performed by under-qualified personnel without anesthesia, further compounding the suffering of detainees.
These abuses are a continuation of the violent and humiliating tactics employed by the Israeli military in Gaza. The dehumanizing culture of abuse is systemic within the Israeli Defence Forces, with soldiers uploading videos to social media boasting of their war crimes and documenting them in action.
The Guardian’s report in April 2024 exposed the extent of the detainee crisis, with “tens of thousands” of individuals disappearing in Gaza, their fate unknown and their voices silenced. This ongoing campaign of forced disappearances represents a grave violation of international law and a blatant disregard for the fundamental rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.
A letter addressed to the Israeli attorney general and defense ministers by a former detention camp worker warned that “the facilities’ operations do not comply with a single section among those dealing with health in the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law.”
The international community cannot remain silent in the face of such grave atrocities. It is our collective responsibility to stand up for justice, accountability, and the inherent dignity of every individual, regardless of their nationality or ethnicity.
The situation in Gaza is beyond critical, as war crimes and atrocities continue to be committed by Israel with impunity. Immediate action is needed.
Failure to act in the face of this grave and deliberate humanitarian catastrophe is not acceptable. We all bear a responsibility to halt this genocide and lend our voice to ending this atrocity, I hope you will do the same.
