Amnesty International accuses Israel of ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian prisoners. The Law on Unlawful Combatants gives Israeli forces the power to systematically arrest Palestinians, holding them in solitary confinement without access to lawyers or any contact with their families, the non-governmental human rights organization points out.

The report is based on the testimonies of 27 Palestinian ex-prisoners, including five women and a 14-year-old boy, who alleged torture and inhuman or degrading treatment by the Israeli army.

A 57-year-old pediatrician – who was arrested during a raid on a Gaza hospital in December 2023 – said he was handcuffed and blindfolded for 45 days in a camp, where he was starved and repeatedly beaten.

So far there is no official reaction from the Israeli authorities to this Amnesty International report. Israel has repeatedly denied allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

Amnesty International strongly criticizes the Law on Unlawful Combatants, which allows Israeli authorities to arbitrarily arrest anyone they deem suspicious and hold them in solitary confinement without any evidence to substantiate their allegations.