Israel/OPT: Horrifying cases of torture and degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees amid spike in arbitrary arrests
Amnesty InternationalNov 10, 2023
Gaza Medics Report Humiliating Conditions in Detention
The Facts
Medics from Gaza's Nasser hospital, interviewed by the BBC, have reported experiencing humiliating and degrading conditions during detention. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) states that "about 200 terrorists and suspects of terrorist activity were detained" following a Feb. 15 raid, "including some who posed as medical teams."
Footage filmed secretly from the hospital showed a line of men blindfolded and stripped to their underwear kneeling with their hands behind their heads. The IDF stressed efforts to minimize the impacts on workers and patients, saying "the hands of patients who were not suspected of involvement in terrorism were not tied."
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
Testimony from detainees, supported by video and images, reveals a widespread practice by Israeli forces subjecting arbitrarily detained Palestinian prisoners to degrading and humiliating conditions. These are clear violations of international law and must be addressed immediately. Such reports have been documented for decades, so public scrutiny of these abuses is long overdue.
Pro-Israel narrative
These are unsubstantiated allegations of prisoner mistreatment being leveled at Israel. It is against the military's values and policies to mistreat prisoners, therefore such actions are strictly prohibited. Instead of launching smears against Israel, the world should focus on saving the 130 Israeli hostages still imprisoned by Hamas, some of whom may be facing sexualized torture.
Nerd narrative
There is a 35% chance that the International Criminal Court will bring charges against a member of the Israeli Government or Israeli Defense Force before 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.