Chemical burns, assaults, electric shocks - Gazans talk of torture in Israeli detention

[CharlieH]

 

Warning: This article contains distressing content

 

Palestinian detainees released back to Gaza have told the BBC they were subjected to mistreatment and torture at the hands of Israeli military and prison staff, adding to reports of misconduct within Israel's barracks and jails.

 

One man said he was attacked with chemicals and set alight. "I thrashed around like an animal in an attempt to put the fire out [on my body]," said Mohammad Abu Tawileh, a 36-year-old mechanic.

 

We have conducted in-depth interviews with five released detainees, all of whom were arrested in Gaza in the months after Hamas and other groups killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostage. The men were held under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law, a measure by which people suspected of posing a security risk can be detained for an unspecified period without charge, as Israel set out to recover the hostages and dismantle the proscribed terror group.

 

The men say they were accused of having links with Hamas and questioned over the location of hostages and tunnels, but were not found to be involved in the 7 October 2023 attacks - a condition Israel had set for anyone released under the recent ceasefire deal.

Some of those freed under the deal were serving sentences for other serious crimes, including the killing of Israelis, but that was not the case for our interviewees. We also asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Prison Service (IPS) if there were any convictions or accusations against the men but they did not respond to that question.

 

In the men's testimony:

• They each describe being stripped, blindfolded, cuffed and beaten
• Some also say they were given electric shocks, menaced by dogs, and denied access to medical care
• Some say they witnessed the deaths of other detainees
• One says he witnessed sexual abuse
• Another says he had his head dunked in chemicals and his back set on fire

We have seen reports by a lawyer who visited two of the men in prison, and have spoken to medical staff who treated some of them on their return.

The BBC sent a lengthy right of reply letter to the IDF which laid out in detail the men's allegations and their identities.

In its statement, the IDF did not respond to any of the specific allegations, but said it "completely rejects accusations of systematic abuse of detainees".

 

It said some of the cases raised by the BBC would be "examined by the relevant authorities". It added that others "were brought without sufficient detail, without any detail regarding the identity of the detainees, making them impossible to examine".

It continued: "The IDF takes any… actions which contradict its values very seriously… Specific complaints about inappropriate behaviour by detention facility staff or insufficient conditions are forwarded for examination by the relevant authorities and are dealt with accordingly. In appropriate cases, disciplinary actions are taken against the staff members of the facility, and criminal investigations are opened."

The IPS said it was not aware of any of the claims of abuse described in our investigation, in its prisons. "[A]s far as we know, no such events have occurred under IPS responsibility," it added.

 

Dr Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, co-director of the Centre for International Law at the University of Bristol, said the treatment the men described was "entirely inconsistent with both international law and Israeli law", and in some cases would "meet the threshold of torture".

"Under international law, the law of armed conflict requires you to treat all detainees humanely," he said. "The obligations relating to the basic needs of detainees are unaffected by any alleged wrongdoing.

 

Full Story from the BBC

 

08.04.2025