UNRWA cites in a statement released today the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who said he had received “numerous reports of arbitrary arrests, ill-treatment and summary executions, as well as the possible enforced disappearance of thousands of Palestinian men and boys and a number of women and girls by Israeli forces”.

Gazans who were detained said they were taken to makeshift military detention centres, where they were held in groups of 100 to 120, some reporting that they were held incommunicado for several weeks, according to the same source.

The detainees also reported being “subjected to ill-treatment during different stages of their detention”.

UNRWA stresses that all detainees “were subjected to ill-treatment”, regardless of their sex, age, disability, injury or illness.

The organization also stated that “ill-treatment included beatings, being forced to lie on a thin mattress on rubble for hours, with no food, water or access to toilets, and having their hands and legs tied with plastic”.

In addition, “several detainees reported being forcibly caged and attacked by dogs”, UNRWA added.

“Some released detainees, including a child, had visible dog bite marks and other injuries on their bodies. Detainees were threatened with harm or death to their family members if they did not provide the requested information”, the organization said.

The UN agency also said that in most cases Israeli soldiers forced men and boys “to strip down to their underwear” and “both men and women reported being forced to strip naked in front of male soldiers, and being photographed and filmed naked”.

UNRWA concluded that the incidents reported by the detained men and women “may amount to sexual violence and harassment” and added that “women described being subjected to psychological abuse, including insults and threats, as well as inappropriate touching and blindfolding”.

The ongoing conflict was triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on 7 October.

The attack killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians but also around 400 soldiers, and Hamas took nearly 240 hostages, of whom over 100 remain kidnapped in the Gaza Strip.

In retaliation, Israel, which has vowed to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement, has been bombing the Gaza Strip, where, according to the local government led by Hamas, over 34,000 people have been killed – most of them civilians.

The Israeli offensive has also destroyed most of Gaza’s infrastructure and nearly two million people have been forced to abandon their homes, i.e. almost all of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the enclave, which has been controlled by Hamas since 2007.

The population of the Gaza Strip is also facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, due to the collapse of hospitals, the outbreak of epidemics and shortages of drinking water, food, medicines and electricity.

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