UN Human Rights - Palestine concerned over Israel’s ill-treatment, violence and confiscation of belongings from Gaza returnees 

UN Human Rights - Palestine is concerned about the increasing number of reports by Palestinians returning to Gaza that they have been subjected to physical violence, threats, degrading treatment, and intrusive searches by Israeli soldiers, as well as other armed individuals acting under the authority of Israel, at Kerem Abu Salem crossing point, and previously at Rafah crossing point. There are also widespread reports of the confiscation of medicines, medical supplies, identity documents, educational certificates, money, and other personal belongings, with no process for their recovery.  

Between 7 July and 4 August 2026, hundreds of returnees described prolonged and exhausting journeys. In just one day, in July, 54 of 92 returnees reported that some or all of their personal belongings had been confiscated, including medicines and assistive devices.

In early August, an older man reported that, after objecting to money being missing from his belongings, Israel soldiers beat and handcuffed him, dragged him along the ground, detained him in a small room, and then transferred him to a bus.  

In another instance, there were reports of unnecessary intrusive searches and degrading treatment. Two women returning together reported that they were taken separately into closed areas and subjected to an intrusive body search by a female Israeli soldier, being required to remove their clothes while being filmed by a surveillance camera, after a metal necklace worn by one of them had triggered a security alarm.  

These reports are consistent with concerns documented during earlier crossings, where returnees described verbal abuse, intimidation, interrogations, violent handling and theft from their luggage.

Children face additional vulnerabilities. A four-year-old girl arrived in Gaza alone after her father was prevented from returning to Gaza. Upon her arrival, humanitarian partners had to initiate family tracing to help reunite her with her mother and uncle.  

“These violations we are seeing against Palestinians returning to Gaza are part of a broader pattern of violations and dehumanization, and are discouraging people from returning,” said Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “These are vulnerable people returning to their occupied land that has been devastated by years of Israeli bombardment and starved of life’s basic essentials. And now they are having to endure this on their return? It is simply abhorrent.”    

Palestinian authorities must stop practices of arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment

The UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory condemns the Palestinian authorities’ continued use of arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of ill-treatment against Palestinians detained in the West Bank for “security reasons”, including journalists, dissidents, and political activists.

Palestinian authorities continue to arbitrarily or unlawfully deprive dozens of Palestinians of liberty — many are reportedly detained under a law that was declared unconstitutional by the Palestinian Supreme Constitutional Court. UN Human Rights – OPT has also gathered information on several male prisoners, including children, who continued to be detained by Palestinian security forces despite courts having ordered their release.

Some detainees in Palestinian detention facilities have reported torture and other forms of ill-treatment, including painful stress positions, severe beatings and whippings, and prolonged solitary confinement. Detainees who reported torture and ill-treatment frequently referred to experiencing suspension in a position known in Arabic as “shabeh”, where their hands are shackled behind their backs, and they are suspended from the ceiling by their wrists for days at a time.

Over the years, the Palestinian authorities have worked closely with our Office and made some advancements, including legal reforms and increased engagement with the UN Committee Against Torture. However, much more needs to be done to guarantee the rights and dignity of Palestinian detainees.

The Palestinian authorities must immediately stop all forms of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees and all arbitrary or unlawful detention. Those deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and respect for their dignity. Among others, they must be provided with regular outdoor access, sufficient living space to prevent overcrowding, and adequate food, medical care, clothing, and sanitation facilities and hygiene conditions. They must also be entitled to challenge the lawfulness of their detention before a court.

Palestinian authorities must also conduct prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and effective investigations into all reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees and hold perpetrators to account.

To prevent recurrence, we call upon the Government of the State of Palestine to operationalize commitments taken within the National Commission against Torture, and under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and establish a National Preventive Mechanism with a mandate to regularly inspect places of detention.

Urgent action needed to protect Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya 
 

UN Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory calls on the Israeli Government to urgently protect Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and ensure his safety, dignity, and physical integrity. The Israeli Government must immediately release Dr. Abu Safiya, or promptly charge him with a recognizable criminal offence and grant him a fair trial. In the meantime, he must be urgently transferred to a civilian hospital to ensure that he receives life-saving medical care.

Dr. Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been held in Israeli custody since December 2024 under Israel's Unlawful Combatant Law, without charge or trial. He was arrested at the hospital after refusing to evacuate while treating critical patients.

According to his lawyers, Dr. Abu Safiya appears to be at imminent risk of death. Information available to UN Human Rights - OPT indicates he has been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including prolonged solitary confinement, repeated severe assaults resulting in grave injuries, and denial of medical care.

His case raises serious concerns under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the prohibition of torture, the right to liberty and security, the right to be brought to justice in a process respecting fair trial guarantees, and the protections afforded to medical personnel during armed conflict.

Despite several appeals to Israeli courts challenging the legality of Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention, the courts have so far failed to protect his rights under international law, compounding concerns about the effectiveness of the Israeli judicial safeguards and remedies in relation to Palestinian detainees. Dr. Abu Safiya’s lawyers also stated that he was assaulted in detention in retribution for these legal actions.

Thirteen other senior doctors remain in Israeli detention without charge. Around 9,300 Palestinians are currently in Israeli custody, including thousands held arbitrarily without charge or trial. UN Human Rights OPT documentation indicates that torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees is widespread and systematic. At least 91 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention since 7 October 2023, including several dying due to torture and ill-treatment, according to credible information.

Israel must ensure that its laws governing the detention of Palestinians living under occupation comply with international legal norms and standards, including the prohibition of arbitrary detention and fair trial guarantees, and that its detention officials abide by those standards. All arbitrarily detained Palestinians must be released with immediate effect.

The Israeli Government must immediately and urgently end all forms of torture and ill-treatment against Palestinian detainees. We urge Israel to grant independent medical experts, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and human rights monitors unhindered access to places of detention.

UN Human Rights - Palestine's documentation indicates widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment against Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody.

Patterns of torture and ill-treatment have also been documented against Palestinian detainees in the custody of Palestinian security forces. There are also concerns about reports of torture and ill-treatment at the hands of de facto authorities, armed groups and other armed elements in Gaza.

Human dignity is an inalienable right. The prohibition of torture is absolute regardless of the identity of the victim or the perpetrator. Justice for victims is a right, not a privilege.

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The violence, displacement, and humanitarian suffering of the past 15 months has continued through the new year across the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The Gaza nightmare continues

In Gaza, it has been 15 months of relentless Israeli attacks that have led to the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians, the displacement (often multiple times) of almost everyone across Gaza, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the collapse of public order and safety. Nobody has been spared with scores of killings of first responders, healthcare workers, journalists, local police officers, and UN staff. No place is safe with bombardment continuing to destroy homes, shelters, hospitals, schools and places of worship.

The first week of the new year was no different. Israeli airstrikes, artillery shelling and gunfire reportedly killed at least 332 Palestinians in Gaza since 1 January 2025, including women and children. The Israeli military is still issuing displacement orders, including in Middle Gaza. Airstrikes in Gaza City and Middle Gaza were particularly harsh last week, creating further insecurity and risks for Palestinians who are being forcibly displaced from northern Gaza and are seeking shelter in these areas.

In the meantime, Israel continues to impede the entry of aid into Gaza. The collapse of public order and safety, in large part a result of the Israeli military’s targeting of civilian police, also continues to make it difficult to deliver what little aid is available effectively to those most in need throughout Gaza.

Since 1 January 2025, at least two incidents were reported of Israeli airstrikes allegedly killing guards providing security to aid distribution. A 74-truck UN aid convoy was attacked last Saturday by looters who then seized 43 trucks. An Israeli airstrike on Sunday reportedly hit the tents of internally displaced persons in the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” of Al Mawasi - Khan Yunis and killed two civilian police leaders, one of whom was allegedly in charge of aid security.

The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is compounded by the harsh winter weather conditions with no proper shelters to stave off the cold and rain. On Monday, 6 January, a 35-day-old baby reportedly died from hypothermia bringing the total reported number of Palestinians who succumbed to the cold to eight, most of them children.

The West Bank

The deterioration of the human rights situation in the West Bank also continues into the New Year. This includes the sustained increase in violence which has so far killed 81 3Palestinians over the past 15 months, especially as a result of settler violence and Israel’s security forces’ consistent use of unlawful lethal. This has involved the growing pattern of using methods and means of warfare outside the conduct of hostilities, the use of lethal force against unarmed Palestinian bystanders, including children and women not posing any threat to life or limb, and extrajudicial executions of Palestinians “wanted” by Israel.

This is in addition to the forced displacement of Palestinians with incessant demolitions and forced evictions, the expansion of illegal settlements, severe restrictions on freedom of movement essentially tearing communities apart, and an unprecedented repression of freedoms of expression, press and opinion.

Since 1 January 2025, Israeli security forces continued daily raids of Palestinian communities reportedly killed nine Palestinians, including four children, most recently two boys aged eight and ten who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Tammun today, 8 January. 

On Friday, Israeli settlers attacked several Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank, assaulted and set fire to Palestinian homes and vehicles and seriously injured at least ten Palestinians, among them an elderly Palestinian man. On Monday, Palestinian armed men reportedly shot at Israeli vehicles near an Israeli settlement, killing three Israelis including two women aged 70 and 73 and an off-duty police officer aged 35 and injuring eight others. Threats of retaliatory violence are surfacing in the media including by senior Israeli officials.

Concerns about the conduct of the Palestinian security forces

The conduct of the Palestinian security forces also continues to be a matter of concern as an operation in Jenin Refugee Camp continued since 5 December 2024. So far, eight Palestinians were killed in the course of the operation, most of them unarmed, and six Palestinian security officers. Among those killed since the beginning of the year in Jenin are a father and his 14-yearold son who were shot to death together on Friday, 3 January. The Palestinian security forces denied responsibility for the incident.

This is happening along with a growing crackdown on the freedom of expression and press in the West Bank including the Palestinian Authority’s shutdown of Al Jazeera broadcasts, reported administrative orders banning criticism of the Palestinian Authority on social media, and reported arrests, threats and ill-treatment based on the exercise of freedom of expression.

We are reiterating our calls on the Palestinian security forces to operate within the strict limits of international human rights law and urge the conduct of transparent, thorough, and effective investigations into all killings by the Palestinian security forces.

Violations of international law must end

Fifteen months of grave breaches of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law with impunity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory cannot be allowed to continue for another year. This responsibility falls on the entire international community, especially countries with influence and leverage who can exercise pressure to protect civilians from further suffering and ensure accountability.

The UN Human Rights Office calls once again on Israel to respect its international law obligations, including as the occupying power, to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians and their unimpeded and dignified access to basic services and essential needs.

The UN Human Rights Office additionally calls for the release of all those arbitrarily detained in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the hostages who remain in Gaza. We remind Israel of its obligation to end its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as per the International Court of Justice, and to stop all violations of international law including practices that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.