Overview
- Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, presented a report to the Human Rights Council on Monday alleging Israel has institutionalised torture and declaring the world has given it a licence to do so.
- She urged criminal investigations and asked the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants for Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and Israel Katz.
- The report says Israeli forces detained more than 18,500 Palestinians since October 2023, including at least 1,500 children, with nearly 100 deaths in custody and allegations of rape, starvation, broken bones and enforced disappearances.
- Albanese argues torture reaches beyond prisons into a wider “torturous environment” created by mass displacement, siege, denial of aid, settler and military violence, surveillance and destruction of infrastructure.
- Israel’s mission in Geneva condemned the report and called Albanese an “agent of chaos”, while coverage split, with Al Jazeera emphasising the torture findings and Israel National News spotlighting her past controversies and US sanctions.