Israel used dogs, waterboarding on Palestinian detainees, UN report says

Thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly removed from Gaza, sometimes from bomb shelters, and dragged into detention in Israel, where some have been tortured, and dozens have died, according to a UN human rights office report.

Many of those seized in Gaza since the Israeli war began on October 7 were taken at checkpoints as they fled Israel's military offensive or from the schools and hospitals where they were sheltering, said the 23-page report on Tuesday.

Often, they were blindfolded and shackled before being transported to Israel and placed in "cage-like" military centres and forced to wear nothing but diapers for prolonged periods, it said.

The UN report said 53 detainees died in custody.

"The testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law," said United Nations High Commissioner Volker Turk in a statement accompanying the report.

The Israeli military has said it is investigating allegations of mistreatment of detainees at facilities in Israel but has declined to comment on specific cases.

It plans a phase-out of the Sde Teiman camp in the Negev desert, which was cited both in the UN report and by Palestinian rights groups as a location of detainee abuse.

Reports of mistreatment of detainees in Israeli prisons have been growing in recent months.

Detainees held naked in cage-like facilities

The report on detention says Israel’s prison service held more than 9,400 “security detainees” as of the end of June, and some have been held in secret without access to lawyers or respect for their legal rights.

A summary of the report, based on interviews with former detainees and other sources, decries a “staggering” number of detainees — including men, women, children, journalists and human rights defenders — and said such practices raise concerns about arbitrary detention.

“Detainees said they were held in cage-like facilities, stripped naked for prolonged periods, wearing only diapers. Their testimonies told of prolonged blindfolding, deprivation of food, sleep and water, and being subjected to electric shocks and being burnt with cigarettes,” a summary of the report said.

“Some detainees said dogs were released on them, and others said they were subjected to waterboarding, or that their hands were tied and they were suspended from the ceiling,” it added.

“Some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence.”

The report also says the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, had also “continued to carry out arbitrary detention and torture or other ill-treatment in the West Bank, reportedly principally to suppress criticism and political opposition.”

On Tuesday, an Israeli military court began an initial hearing for nine soldiers detained over what a defence lawyer said were allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian at Sde Teiman — a shadowy facility where Israel has held prisoners from Gaza during the war.

The soldiers’ detention triggered angry protests by supporters demanding their release. On Wednesday, the military court extended the detention of eight Israeli suspects until Sunday.