The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has revealed that there is compelling evidence of systematic torture and inhumane treatment against Palestinians detained from Gaza since February 2024.

In a statement released on Sunday, Albanese said investigations indicate that Israel has subjected numerous detainees to severe physical and psychological torture, prolonged isolation, and deprivation of basic needs — all while facing no international accountability for these crimes.

Her remarks came following a detailed report published by The Guardian, which exposed the existence of a secret underground detention facility known as “Rakifet”, where dozens of Palestinians from Gaza have allegedly been held in darkness, malnourished, and completely cut off from their families and the outside world.

According to the findings cited in the report, lawyers from Israel’s Public Committee Against Torture (B’Tselem) were able to visit the site and meet two civilian detainees who described the conditions as “unbearable,” reporting repeated beatings, sleep deprivation, and denial of medical care.

The report further noted that many of those detained were civilians with no proven link to military activity, yet the Israeli military courts extended their detention “until the end of the war” without formal charges — a move widely condemned by human rights organizations as a blatant violation of international law.

Albanese emphasized that Israel’s ongoing impunity has been reinforced by the double standards of Western governments, calling on the international community “not to remain silent in the face of these war crimes.” She stressed that accountability is essential to prevent the normalization of such violations against Palestinian civilians.

Her statement coincides with several international media reports, including those by IMEMC and Palestine News Network (PNN), which also confirmed evidence of systematic torture and abuse inside the Rakifet facility.

Human rights advocates have urged the UN Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an immediate investigation into Israel’s treatment of detainees from Gaza, warning that the scale of abuse documented may amount to crimes against humanity.(ILKHA)