(ICSPR) Issues a Comprehensive Position Paper: Thousands of Palestinian Detainees Subjected to Torture and Enforced Disappearance in Israeli Prisons Since October 7 – Systematic Crimes Amounting to Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
Date: July 3, 2025
Press Release
(ICSPR) Issues a Comprehensive Position Paper: Thousands of Palestinian Detainees Subjected to Torture and Enforced Disappearance in Israeli Prisons Since October 7 – Systematic Crimes Amounting to Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
A position paper issued by the International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR), prepared by researcher Yasmine Qasem, revealed a horrific and unprecedented escalation in the grave violations committed by Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian prisoners and detainees since October 7, 2023. The paper confirmed that Israel is employing an integrated system of collective punishment, systematic torture, and enforced disappearance in blatant violation of all international laws and conventions.
The paper emphasized that more than 6,000 Palestinian citizens from the Gaza Strip remain detained in secret and undisclosed detention facilities, under complete blackout by the occupation authorities, and are denied the most basic rights guaranteed under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law. The paper highlighted that these arbitrary arrests coincided with the perpetration of acts of genocide, systematic destruction, and collective starvation against the population of the Strip.
The paper presented evidence that the occupation authorities are implementing policies of collective punishment inside prisons, where canteens have been closed, visits by lawyers and human rights organizations have been banned, televisions and radios confiscated, and detainees are only able to receive news through newly arriving prisoners—recreating a scene akin to “prisons detached from time and humanity.” Blankets and mattresses were confiscated or restricted, personal hygiene tools, showers, and exposure to sunlight were prohibited, while religious books were seized and religious practices banned.
The paper recorded shocking testimonies of public torture sessions in prison courtyards, and the use of extremely cruel “shabah” (stress positions), forcing detainees to squat or lie on their stomachs for days at a time, blindfolded and handcuffed in ways that caused permanent injuries such as gangrene and limb amputation. It also documented surgeries performed without anesthesia, and the use of sewage water and toxic gases inside cells.
The paper also documented the use of so-called “bird rooms,” where informants are planted among detainees to psychologically manipulate and extract confessions under coercion. Surveillance cameras were installed in cells around the clock, depriving detainees of any legal or human privacy.
As for individual torture methods, the paper confirmed the widespread use of revenge-based killings and torture, including: beatings with metal rods, forced nudity, use of police dogs, electric shocks, burning of detainees with cigarettes, sexual harassment, rape, covering the head with dirty bags, waterboarding, prolonged shabah for hours and days, and deprivation of sleep, food, and medication. It also pointed to degrading techniques such as forcing prisoners to mimic dog sounds, sing the Israeli anthem, urinate on them, and beat them on sensitive body parts.
The paper stated that the occupation forces follow a systematic policy of humiliating detainees through the so-called “banana shabah” position—forcing prisoners into severe forward bends for days or weeks—leading to severe injuries and broken limbs.
The paper confirmed that not a single Israeli interrogator has been convicted since the responsibility for investigations was transferred to the Ministry of Justice in 1994, and that members of the security services enjoy near-total immunity regarding torture and detention practices.
In another section, the paper highlighted the crime of enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity systematically practiced by Israel, where thousands of detainees—particularly from Gaza—have been denied any legal protection or contact with the outside world, in blatant violation of all international agreements, foremost among them the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (2006), the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Article 7), the Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 147), and the 1992 UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The paper documented prominent violations that constitute enforced disappearance, citing specific cases such as the arrest of Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, whose presence in any official detention facility has been denied by Israeli authorities despite leaked photos showing him handcuffed, confirming the continued Israeli denial of the existence of thousands of detainees.
The paper stressed that Israel has adopted racist legislation and expanded its false legal framework to legitimize torture, most notably the “Unlawful Combatant Law”, enacted in 2002 and amended after October 7, 2023, under which the Israeli Minister of Security declared all detainees from Gaza to be “unlawful combatants”—a legal designation borrowed from the U.S. Guantanamo experience, used to circumvent the protections afforded to detainees under the Geneva Conventions.
According to the paper, detainees have been held in military camps and isolated prisons such as “Sde Teiman”, “Anatot”, “Megiddo”, “Ofer”, “Damon”, and in secret military locations near Gaza’s borders—facilities that are entirely outside any legal or human rights oversight, enabling the perpetration of grave crimes in the shadows.
The paper indicated that the occupation authorities have enacted around 31 laws and more than 77 regulations and administrative orders that legalize collective torture and revenge, reflecting a systematic policy backed by Israel’s political and legal institutions.
In conclusion, the International Commission (ICSPR) called on the international community, the Human Rights Council, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Criminal Court to take immediate action to stop the ongoing crimes committed by the occupation against Palestinian prisoners and detainees. It urged the opening of independent international investigations, the provision of urgent legal and humanitarian protection, and the prosecution of all Israeli officials responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity—particularly those committed after October 7.
The Commission also called on relevant United Nations bodies to activate accountability mechanisms, move beyond rhetorical condemnation, and work to compel Israel to release all detainees held in enforced disappearance, reveal the fate of the missing, and end its blatant violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
