SG Spokesperson on Israeli torture of Palestinian detainees

United Nations

Sphinx News: Ahmed Ali

Today, the United Nations Independent Committee Against Torture, with a panel of 10 impartial experts, released a public statement in Geneva, Switzerland alleging sufficient evidence in received reports indicating, “systematic, widespread torture and ill treatment of Palestinian detainees.”

The analysis of the reports read aloud by Peter Vedel Kessing, Special Rapporteur of the UN Committee Against Torture, refers to treatment by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians held in captivity. Kessing and the independent committee’s findings lead him to add that the panel is, “appalled,” particularly with the reports highlighting the targeting of, “children and other vulnerable groups.”

The Palestinians released following the agreed-upon ceasefire—under which Israeli officials freed 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and approximately 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza who had been arrested since 7 October 2023—have been subjected to “torture and ill-treatment,” Kessing says. Kessing would also add in his explanation that the forms of maltreatment were cited to be, “severe beatings including on the genitals, electric shocks, being forced to remain in stressed positions for prolonged periods, deliberate inhuman conditions and starvation, waterboarding, and widespread sexual insults and threats of rape.”

In his response, the Spokesperson for the Secretary General stated, “there are a number of investigative mechanisms that are mandated to look into these very serious allegations, but Israeli authorities NEED to cooperate with them.”

Just some of the United Nations-led independent investigative mechanisms Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric is referring to are: the UN Committee Against Torture, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. These independent UN-mandated investigative fact-finding mechanisms as Dujarric notes, have historically seen a lack of cooperation by Israeli authorities.

Just in August 2025, the United Nations Secretary-General expressed “credible information” that Israeli forces committed sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. The reaction by the United Nations Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, Danny Danon, was that the allegations were, “baseless,” indicating bias against the Israeli state.

Even in response to the most recent statement by Kessing, Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, rejected the allegations, branding them as “disinformation.” Meron further rebuked the findings, stating that Israel is “committed to upholding its obligations in line with our moral values and principles, even in the face of the challenges posed by a terrorist organization.”