Israel is torturing Palestinians – and the UK must act

Trigger warning: this article includes graphic descriptions of torture and assault. 

Since the start of Israel’s occupation in 1967 up to 2013, at least 73 Palestinian prisoners died due to torture at the hands of Israeli interrogators – with thousands more suffering lasting physical and psychological damage.  

Between January 2016 and December 2023, 838 Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military were systematically tortured1.

Israel’s ramped up torture of Palestinians

Israel’s torture of Palestinians in detention has escalated in scale and severity since 7 October 2023. Since then, many thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and from Israel itself have been detained by Israel – and most have been tortured and ill-treated.  

Palestinian detainees are held in prisons, official and ad hoc detention facilities belonging to the Israel Prison Service and military, where adults, children and the elderly face torture and ill treatment. UN experts and UN bodies, as well as Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations, agree that Israel’s torture of Palestinians is widespread and systematic2.  

Amid what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has deemed is a plausible genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, the scale and severity of abuse in detention is unsurprising – especially given that Israel’s leaders are openly calling for harsh treatment of Palestinians. Israel’s soldiers have openly broadcast clips and images of some of the abuse they have perpetrated against Palestinian civilians3.

Israel is using dozens of methods of torture against the Palestinian people. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has expressed concern and called for investigations4. Methods include: beatings with fists and metal objects, prolonged stress positions, detainees permanently and painfully handcuffed and ankle-tied, humiliations, detainees stripped and crammed together, electric shocks, fingernail extractions, attacks by dogs, sexual assault and rape, threats of violence or death to detainees and their loved ones, extreme medical neglect, starvation, denial of access to toilets and sanitation, and much more.

At least 54 Palestinians are reported to have died as a consequence of Israel’s torture and ill-treatment. Our partner organisation Addameer, a Palestinian human rights organisation based in the West Bank, has detailed information on 18 of the Palestinian deaths in Israel’s custody. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported on a further 36 deaths of detained Palestinians from Gaza, including Dr Iyad Rantisi, director of the maternity department of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip. According to Haaretz, Dr Rantisi died six days after he was imprisoned by invading Israeli troops at an interrogation facility run by Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence agency – notorious for torturing Palestinian detainees. Dr Rantisi was arrested in November by the Israeli military at a checkpoint while complying with orders from Israel to flee northern Gaza to the south.

In another incident, Palestinian paediatrician Dr Saif Abdulrahman Maarouf was detained and tortured by Israel over seven weeks after being taken from Al-Ahli hospital. Dr Maarouf was handcuffed, blindfolded, and his legs were shackled5.  

What the UK needs to do

Israeli authorities have been torturing Palestinian detainees, with impunity, for decades. More than 1,400 complaints of torture have been filed with Israel’s Justice Ministry since 2001, resulting in only three criminal investigations and no indictments6. 

Israel should not be able to get away with committing torture. Under international law, torture is prohibited worldwide, in all circumstances, and is a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Israel’s violations of international law are widespread and well-documented. The Chief Prosecutor of the ICC must urgently hold those responsible for acts of torture to account, and request arrest warrants for Israeli officials suspected of ordering and perpetrating torture and ill-treatment. 

Elsewhere, perpetrators of torture have been held to account and sanctioned politically, diplomatically and economically. For example, both the US and the UK sanctioned Syria for abuse in its prisons7, and yet, Israel’s influential allies continue to do business with it as usual.  

The previous Conservative UK government did not speak out against Israel’s ongoing wave of torture of Palestinians, and the current UK Labour government failed to condemn it while in opposition. The UK government has a huge amount of economic, political and diplomatic influence, which it could and should be using to promote Palestinians’ human rights and international law.  

The UK must demand: an immediate end to Israel’s torture of Palestinians, and the military arrest, detention and prosecution of Palestinian children; independent investigations into reports of torture; and unfettered access to lawyers, the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN human rights monitors, medical care and regular family visits for Palestinian detainees.  

The UK government must: suspend the UK-Israel trade agreement, out of respect for human rights; sanction named Israeli officials who make dehumanising statements, and authorise or condone the torture of Palestinians; ban investment from the UK into businesses working in illegal settlements; and provide clear material and diplomatic support for the ICJ and ICC for their investigations into Israel’s violations of international law within the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.  

War on Want, along with Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations, including our partner, Addameer, are working hard to document Israel’s human rights abuses against Palestinians in its detention – and to shine a light on those who are responsible. The UK government must support justice for the Palestinian people and hold Israel to account for what likely amounts to war crimes, and other systematic violations of international law.