UN Officials Call Israel's Violence Against Palestinian Prisoners A War Crime

The arrest of Gazans by the Israeli military. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) Special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian region ofmanfaat Albanese reacted strongly to the disclosure of sexual violence against Palestinians at an Israeli detention center.

Albanese said in a statement that the Zionist regime's inhumane behavior towards Palestinian prisoners was considered a war crime.

"What happened to Palestinian prisoners at the Sde Teiman Detention Center was intentional and colluding with prison officials, and this incident was disturbing and I was surprised by the silence of Western media," he said, quoted by IRNA on August 9.

Palestinian prisoners have been the target of inhumane treatment for decades. This increased after Israel launched its war in Gaza on October 7 last year.

The UN Special Reporter said Israeli authorities were committing crimes because they knew they would not be prosecuted.

"There are no words to describe crimes committed by the Zionist military against Palestinian prisoners," he stressed.

Footage from surveillance cameras in prisons in southern Palestine shows the Israeli forces' cruel and inhumane actions against Palestinian prisoners.

Earlier, a week after controversy surrounding allegations by Zionist soldiers tortured and raped Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip, Israel's Channel 12 TV released a video on Wednesday morning confirming the claim.

Last week, Israeli media reported 10 soldiers accused of sexually abusing prisoners from the elite Hamas unit in recent months. The detainees were detained in the detention camp of Sde Teiman and transferred to the Beit Lid military court for questioning and trial.

In response, a group of extremist Zionists, primarily supporters of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right minister, stormed the court building and clashed with Zionist forces to prevent a trial against the accused soldiers.

Meanwhile, a UN spokesman called for a thorough investigation into the latest reports on systematic torture and the degrading treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

"All allegations of violation of basic human rights norms must be thoroughly investigated and there must be accountability," UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday at a press conference, responding to a question about a recent report by an Israeli human rights group called B'Tselem.

"We believe that whenever human rights norms have been violated so far, it should be investigated," he continued.

Our human rights colleagues who deal with Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories will continue to pursue all these accusations, he added.

It is known, after the disclosure of the sexual harassment, Israeli institutions took action to prevent international organizations including the Red Cross from entering the facility.