Gaza detainees ‘burned, stripped, forced to drink alcohol’ in Israeli prisons: Rights groups

ISTANBUL

Detainees from the Gaza Strip held in Israeli prisons have reported severe physical and psychological abuse, including being forced to drink alcohol and subjected to burning by boiling water, two Palestinian rights groups said Thursday.

In a joint statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Society and the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs said their legal teams collected testimonies during visits to multiple Israeli facilities in July, including Ketziot, Ofer, Sde Teiman, and the Russian Compound.

“These testimonies reflect unprecedented levels of torture during arrest and interrogation,” the groups said, adding that detainees continue to face “medical crimes, deliberate starvation, and systematic abuse inside prisons and military camps.”

One detainee said he was forced to drink alcohol, while another reported attempting suicide after an Israeli interrogator falsely told him that all his family members had been killed -- a claim later proven untrue.

Other accounts included severe beatings while stripped of clothing, burning with boiling water, and a dog attack that left one detainee injured.

“These testimonies are only a small part of hundreds of accounts documented by Gaza detainees,” the statement reads, stressing that dozens have died as a result of torture and many others remain forcibly disappeared.

The groups said these acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and called on international institutions to investigate and hold Israeli officials accountable.

Israel has killed more than 59,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

ISTANBUL

Other accounts included severe beatings while stripped of clothing, burning with boiling water, and a dog attack that left one detainee injured.

The groups said these acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and called on international institutions to investigate and hold Israeli officials accountable.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.