Palestine Center: Forced disappearances of Gaza prisoners during genocidal war to conceal killings

The Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies accused Israeli authorities of practicing a policy of enforced disappearance of Gaza prisoners during what it called a “war of annihilation,” to conceal killings carried out against detainees — particularly those accused of taking part in resistance operations or of crossing the border on October 7 — so that they would not later have to release them as part of a prisoner exchange.

The center said Israeli authorities are effectively implementing a death-sentence policy that extremist ministers in the government have called for, even though it has not been formally enacted by the Knesset. It said Israel applies it as a fait accompli, executing dozens of prisoners — especially those from Gaza — without announcing their fate as part of a policy of enforced disappearance used to cover up unlawful killings.

The center said Israeli authorities refuse to provide accurate information on the numbers of Gaza detainees and continue to withhold details on their fate, the conditions of their detention, where they are being held, and which among them remain alive. It said a tight information blackout allows authorities to kill whom they choose without oversight or accountability, or to subject detainees to criminal torture that results in death or permanent injury.

The Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies said Israeli authorities treat Gaza detainees as numbers, without regard for their humanity or the rights afforded to prisoners of war under international law, and without consideration of the families and friends who are anxiously awaiting any information about their loved ones’ survival and wellbeing.

The center noted that Israeli authorities have acknowledged only about (2800) detainees held under the “unlawful combatant” law, enacted to justify detaining Gaza prisoners without charge or trial for open-ended, unspecified periods — particularly civilians who make up the vast majority of detainees during the war — while refusing, except in rare cases, to release their names, statuses or places of detention in military camps.

The center warned that Gaza detainees are caught between the hammer of field executions carried out by Israeli forces against civilians after arrest, restraint and field interrogation — as occurred in hundreds of incidents during the ground invasion of Gaza towns and cities when detainees did not pose a threat to forces — and the anvil of brutal, internationally prohibited torture for those who survive execution and are transferred to military camps, notably the Sde Teiman camp, while others are killed during interrogation with their deaths acknowledged only rarely.

It added that Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) interrogators subject Gaza detainees to all forms of internationally prohibited torture and systematic mistreatment, a practice that has led to the death of dozens. The center said the identities of (46) Gaza prisoners who died since October 7 have been confirmed as fatalities resulting from torture, medical neglect and harsh detention conditions.

The center disclosed part of the abuses Gaza prisoners face in Israeli detention, including the use of electric shocks to sensitive areas during interrogation, the release of aggressive police dogs to maul detainees’ bodies, prolonged binding for hours under intense sun, repeated beatings to the upper body, deprivation of bathing and of prayer, and deliberate starvation. It also accused authorities of committing rapes against detainees and boasting about them in media reports, saying there is no distinction in the use of torture between minors and adults.

The center said these practices amount to revenge and sadistic treatment of unarmed civilian detainees, and noted that Israeli authorities have recently acknowledged that the majority of detainees from Gaza have no links to the resistance and that there is no justification for their continued detention.

The Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies called on international human rights organizations and rights bodies to urgently form investigation committees to visit detention centers holding Gaza prisoners, to document their conditions and expose the crimes committed against them, and to put an end to field executions and the slow killings being carried out by Israeli authorities.