UNRWA to publish report accusing 'Israel' of abusing detained Gazans

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The New York Times
4 Mar 2024 08:36
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The report cites released detainees as saying they were beaten, stripped, robbed, blindfolded, and sexually abused by Israeli forces.

Israeli occupation soldiers take position as they raid UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City, on February 8, 2024. (AP)

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA is preparing a report on the abuse of at least 1,000 civilian Gazans at Israeli military facilities, The New York Times reported, citing a copy of the report.

The report, based on the accounts of over 100 released detainees without charges, highlighted that the detained Gazans included males and females ranging in age from 6 to 82 years old, pointing out that some of them died in custody.

It estimates that around 3,000 other detainees remain in Israeli detention without legal representation.

The detainees confirmed that during detention they were beaten, stripped, robbed, blindfolded, sexually abused and denied access to lawyers and doctors, often for more than a month.

According to NYT, the unpublished report states that such treatment "was used to extract information or confessions, to intimidate and humiliate, and to punish."

The report noted that among the detainees were individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, intellectual disabilities, and cancer. It added that many had been detained from northern Gaza after sheltering in schools and hospitals or after trying to flee south, while others were Gazans holding permits to work in Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 and later detained by Israeli occupation forces after the aggression started on October 7.

Some released detainees told UNRWA investigators that they had been attacked by military dogs and beaten by Israeli occupation forces on open wounds.

Several male detainees said Israeli forces had beaten them on their genitals, while some females said they experienced "inappropriate touching during searches and as a form of harassment while blindfolded," the report indicated, adding that several women were forced to strip in front of male Israeli soldiers.

It is noteworthy that the UNRWA report echoes numerous other reports published by human rights monitors and organizations and media outlets about torture and abuse practiced by Israeli occupation forces based on testimonies from released detainees.