UN Rights Office ‘Seriously Concerned’ about Israel’s Increased Arrest of Palestinians

 Israeli soldiers take part in a raid in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers take part in a raid in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
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UN Rights Office ‘Seriously Concerned’ about Israel’s Increased Arrest of Palestinians

 Israeli soldiers take part in a raid in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers take part in a raid in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 23, 2023. (Reuters)

A United Nations office said on Friday it was "seriously concerned" about a dramatic rise in Israel's arrest of Palestinians and called for an investigation into allegations of torture in Israeli custody.

Israel has arrested more than 3,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the start of the Gaza war in early October and a record high number were being held without charge or trial, said a statement by the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Within the span of two months, six Palestinian men have died in Israeli custody, the highest number of cases in such a short period in decades, it said.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and Israel's subsequent heavy bombardment of Gaza, Palestinians held in Israeli jails have reported deteriorating conditions, including overcrowding, restricted access to food and water and limited visits from family or lawyers. Many have said they were subjected to beatings and abuse by detention guards, including rape threats.

"The massive rise in number of Palestinians arrested and detained, the number of reports of ill-treatment and humiliation suffered by those in custody, and the reported failure to adhere to basic due process raise serious questions about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law," the UN Human Rights Office said.

"All cases of deaths in custody and allegations of torture and other ill-treatment must be investigated and accountability ensured."

Israel's Prison Service has said that all prisoners in its custody "are detained according to the provisions of the law" and that prisoner deaths were under investigation.

As part of a truce deal with the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza, Israel has released 240 Palestinian women and teenagers from its jails. More than half were detained without charge, according to Israel's records.

During the week-long pause in fighting, Israel arrested more than 260 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said.



Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.