Israeli Forces Continue Torture In Gaza

By Kelly Tran

A report by Francesca Albanese, a United Nations (U.N.) expert, was released on Friday, March 20, examining torture Palestinians have faced due to Israeli forces. In the report, it says over 9,000 Palestinians were still being detained, while “more than 4,000 have been subjected to enforced disappearance.” 

Albanese has reportedly gathered at least 300 written testimonies. “The testimonies that I and many others are documenting are not only tragic stories of suffering; they are evidence of atrocity crimes targeting the totality of the Palestinian people.”

She claims that “torture has effectively become state policy” and told the U.N. Human Rights Council it was caused “because most of your governments, your ministers, have allowed it.” She worries that this blatant disregard for international law does not stop at Palestine. Albanese says it is happening in other countries, too, including Lebanon, Iran, Venezuela, and more. She warns that “if left unchecked, it will spread far beyond.”

Albanese has spoken up and said that arrests of Palestinians have "escalated dramatically" since October 2023, with more than 18,500 people arrested in total, including at least 1,500 children.

In response to her report, on the March 23 press release from Israel’s mission, they stated, “Francesca Albanese is not a promoter of human rights; she is an agent of chaos... and any document she produces is nothing but a politically-charged, activist rant," and argues she “advocates dangerous extremist narratives to undermine the very existence of the State of Israel.”

However, there is evidence to support Albanese’s claims. One high-profile example of violence against children happened to Karim Abu Nassar, an 18-month-old Palestinian child, who was tortured by Israeli occupation soldiers on Saturday, March 21. His father, Osama Abu Nassar, while trying to buy supplies near the al-Maghazi refugee camp, was fired upon by Israeli soldiers. 

Eyewitnesses say the Israeli occupation soldiers forced the father to an Israeli military checkpoint, separating him from his son. He was forced to watch as the soldiers used a nail to puncture one of his sons’ legs and extinguish cigarettes on his body. After 10 hours, Karim was released back to his family. However, his father remains in custody as of March 26. 

This case is just one of many examples of Palestinians, and children especially, being abused and tortured by Israeli soldiers amidst this conflict.