Israel’s widespread and systematic use of torture is 'a hallmark of the genocide,' UN expert says

Record ID: 2368965

  • Title: Israel’s widespread and systematic use of torture is 'a hallmark of the genocide,' UN expert says
  • Date: 23rd March 2026
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (MARCH 23, 2026) (REUTERS) U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES OCCUPIED SINCE 1967, FRANCESCA ALBANESE, ARRIVING AT HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. IN GENEVA, IBRAHIM KHRAISHI, LISTENING DURING SESSION VARIOUS OF ISRAEL EMPTY SEAT DURING SESSION VARIOUS OF ALBANESE DURIN
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Gaza Israel Palestinian Special Rapporteur United Nations West Bank expert human rights
  • Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: Palestinian Occupied Territory
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA001659823032026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A United Nations human rights investigator said on Monday (March 23) that Israel was carrying out systematic and widespread torture against Palestinians, saying the alleged abuses had become a structural feature of what she described as a genocidal system.
        Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, told the Human Rights Council that her eighth report documented patterns of violence and mistreatment she said had intensified since October 2023.
        “Today I present the findings of my eighth report, the fifth documenting the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. Its findings highlight a hallmark of this genocide: Israel’s widespread and systematic use of torture, alongside the creation of a torturous environment against Palestinians,” she said.
        Albanese said torture had “effectively become State policy,” citing rising detentions and a proposed bill introducing the death penalty for Palestinian detainees. 
        “Since October 2023, torture has effectively become State policy, sustained by a torturous culture that is socially produced, politically defended and publicly normalized,” she said, adding that she had recommended investigations into senior Israeli officials.
        According to her report, more than 18,500 Palestinians were arrested between October 2023 and January 2026, including children, with nearly 100 deaths in custody and 4,000 people recorded as forcibly disappeared. She described detainees held without charge in “inhuman conditions: beaten, shackled, sexually abused, denied medical care. Starved. Raped.”
        Albanese said the alleged abuse extended beyond detention sites adding that genocide had become “the ultimate form of torture: continuous, generational and collective.”
        Addressing the Council, Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi said the practices described amounted to a “collective and systematic form of torture” and were “directly linked to the genocide being perpetrated against our people.” 
        He said the absence of accountability “seriously undermines the credibility of the international system” and urged states to act on the report’s recommendations.
    (Production: Cecile Mantovani)
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