London-based human rights organization Amnesty International accuses Israel of abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners.
According to the group, Israel systematically holds Palestinians incommunicado under the Unlawful Combatants Act, denying them access to lawyers and contact with their families.
The report, based on interviews with 27 Palestinians, including five women and a 14-year-old boy, contains allegations of torture, enforced disappearance and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by Israeli forces.
A 57-year-old pediatrician who was detained during a raid on a Gaza City hospital in December 2023 said he was held handcuffed and blindfolded in a military camp for 45 days, while being starved and abused.
Israel has not commented on the allegations in the report. It has previously denied allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners.
Amnesty’s report criticizes the Unlawful Combatants Law, which has been extended several times since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which sparked the current conflict in Gaza.
The group said Israel is circumventing international human rights treaties by labeling the prisoners as “illegal combatants.”
Amnesty calls for “humane treatment of all prisoners held under the Unlawful Combatants Act, including suspected members of armed groups, and for access to legal counsel.”
