GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 presented a report to the 61st session of the Human Rights Council, concluding that Israeli practices against Palestinians since October 7, 2023, may amount to genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The report, titled “Torture and Genocide,” examines the systematic use of torture within both detention and non-detention policies. It states that these practices have become part of a broader pattern that includes mass killings, forced displacement, destruction of livelihoods, and deprivation of basic necessities, causing long-term physical and psychological harm.
According to the report, Israel’s detention system has deteriorated into a structure based on humiliation, coercion, and systematic terror, aimed at stripping Palestinians of their freedom, dignity, and identity. It stressed that these actions are not isolated violations but rather institutional practices backed by political support.
The report further noted that the deliberate destruction of conditions necessary for life, including attacks on homes and infrastructure and the denial of medical care and food, constitutes serious bodily and mental harm under Article II of the Genocide Convention.
It called on the Israeli government to immediately halt all acts of torture and ill-treatment, both inside and outside detention facilities. The report also urged the dismantling of the apartheid system, the end of Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied territories, and the implementation of accountability, reparations, and guarantees of non-repetition.
Additionally, it recommended granting the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN investigative bodies, and independent experts access to detention facilities to investigate alleged violations. The report also called on UN member states to refrain from complicity in these alleged crimes and to take steps to prevent them and hold perpetrators accountable.
In the same context, the report urged the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations of genocide, torture, and ill-treatment and to consider issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, as well as military and security officials.
