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A confidential United Nations report has accused Israel of widespread abuse of Gazans detained during the war with Hamas, according to copy seen by the Financial Times.
The report by the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said Palestinians released from Israeli detention reported being subjected to abuse ranging from physical assaults and dog attacks to sleep deprivation and sexual violence.
“The beatings included blunt trauma to the head, shoulders, kidneys, neck, back and legs with metal rods and gun and boot butts, in some cases resulting in broken ribs, separated shoulders and permanent injuries,” he said. said the 11- page report.
“Many people released from detention have reported deaths of detainees in military barracks, including injured and sick detainees who were denied medications and medical care.”
Detainees also reported being stripped to their underwear or, in some cases, until they were completely naked, and some said they were kept in the cold without access to toilets, water or food for more than 24 hours. hours.
“According to those released from detention, the mistreatment was used in an attempt to extract information or confessions, to intimidate, humiliate and punish,” reads the UNRWA document, first reported by the New York Times.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it acted in accordance with Israeli and international law and “denies general and unsubstantiated claims regarding detainee abuse, including allegations of sexual abuse in IDF detention facilities.” He also denied the use of sleep deprivation.
“The mistreatment of detainees during their period of detention or during interrogations violates IDF values and contravenes IDF orders and is therefore absolutely prohibited,” he said.
“These statements are another cynical attempt to create a false equivalence with Hamas’ systematic use of rape as a weapon of war.”
Israel has long sought to close UNRWA, accused of supporting Hamas. He said in January that 12 agency employees had taken part in the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war, although he provided only limited evidence to support his claims.
It has since said it has information that around 30 UNRWA staff took part in the October 7 attack or its aftermath, and last week it said 450 of its staff were members of Hamas or other groups Palestinian militants.
More than a dozen countries suspended funding to the agency following Israel’s accusations, but in recent days Canada and Sweden said they would resume funding.
UNRWA, whose 13,000 staff in Gaza play a crucial role in providing aid to the besieged enclave, has terminated the contracts of many staff members accused by Israel. The UN is investigating the allegations.
The UNRWA report seen by the FT also states that some UNRWA staff members detained by Israel were subjected to “threats and coercion by Israeli authorities during detention, and were pressured to make false statements against the agency , including that the agency has affiliations with Hamas and that UNRWA staff members took part in the atrocities of 7 October 2023.”
The Israeli military said Hamas “wage information and psychological warfare in which it lies and invents false narratives with no factual basis.”
“Detainees returning to the Strip are subject to the control of the terrorist organization that can harm them and force them to speak out against the State of Israel against their will, as part of the information warfare it is waging,” it said.
UNRWA’s report was based on interviews with some of the 1,002 Gazans detained and released by Israel since UNRWA began monitoring releases in December.
UNRWA estimates that, in total, Israel may have detained up to 4,000 Gazans since the war began in October.