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UN Watchdog Urges Israel to Probe Gaza 'Torture' Claims

Palestinians walk past a destroyed Israeli armored vehicle amid widespread devastation in Gaza City Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk past a destroyed Israeli armored vehicle amid widespread devastation in Gaza City Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP)
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UN Watchdog Urges Israel to Probe Gaza 'Torture' Claims

Palestinians walk past a destroyed Israeli armored vehicle amid widespread devastation in Gaza City Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk past a destroyed Israeli armored vehicle amid widespread devastation in Gaza City Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP)

A UN committee urged Israel on Friday to set up an independent investigatory commission to probe claims of torture of Palestinians, and warned the situation had "gravely intensified" since the start of the Gaza war.

The United Nations Committee against Torture said it was "deeply concerned about reports indicating a de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment" in Israel.

The committee, whose 10 independent experts monitor how countries implement an international convention against torture, stressed that it "unequivocally condemned the attack perpetrated by Hamas and other groups on October 7, 2023 against Israel".

But in a report published after a regular review of Israel, it "also expressed its deep concern over the disproportionate nature of Israel's response to these attacks".

And it decried "a range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory", warning that it risked leading to "cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population".

The experts called on Israel to "establish an independent, impartial and effective ad hoc investigatory commission to review and investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment committed during the current armed conflict".

Israel should also "prosecute those responsible, including superior officers, and ensure the immediate entry of necessary humanitarian aid and aid workers into Gaza", the committee members said.

During the review conducted in Geneva earlier this month, committee rapporteur Peter Vedel Kessing told the Israeli delegation the experts had been "deeply appalled by the description we have received... of what appears to be systematic and widespread torture and ill-treatment of Palestinians, including children".

"It is claimed that torture has become a deliberate and widespread tool of state policy... from arrest to interrogation to imprisonment."

The committee report highlighted allegations of widespread use of torture methods, including "repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions (and) sexual violence".

During the review, Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, rejected the allegations presented, branding them "disinformation".

Israel, he said, was "committed to upholding its obligations in line with our moral values and principles, even in the face of the challenges posed by a terrorist organization".

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Arab World

Lebanon's Aoun: We Won't Accept Humiliating Deal with Israel...Taking Country to War is 'Treason'

A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
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Lebanon's Aoun: We Won't Accept Humiliating Deal with Israel...Taking Country to War is 'Treason'

A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that direct negotiations with Israel were aimed at ending the conflict with Hezbollah, while accusing those who drew Lebanon into war of "treason" in an implicit rebuke to the Iran-backed armed group.

"My goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel, similar to the armistice agreement" of 1949, Aoun said in a statement, adding that "I assure you that I will not accept reaching a humiliating agreement".

"Those who dragged us into war in Lebanon are now holding us accountable because we made the decision to go to negotiations... What we are doing is not treason. Rather, treason is committed by those who take their country to war to achieve foreign interests," he said.

Earlier on Monday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem reaffirmed his party’s rejection of direct negotiations by the Lebanese authorities with Israel, describing them as a “grave sin,” and warning that such a step would plunge the country into a “cycle of instability.”

In a statement carried by the group’s media outlets, Qassem said: “We categorically reject direct negotiations. Those in power should know that their conduct will not benefit Lebanon, nor will it benefit them.”

He added that it is the authorities’ responsibility “to roll back their grave missteps that place Lebanon in a cycle of instability. They are responsible for halting direct negotiations with the Israeli enemy and adopting indirect ones.”

Qassem added: “These direct negotiations and their outcomes are, to us, as if they do not exist, and they do not concern us in any way.” He stressed: “We will continue our defensive resistance to protect Lebanon and its people... We will respond to Israeli aggression and confront it,” underscoring that “no matter how much the enemy threatens, we will not retreat, bow, or be defeated.”

Following the outbreak of the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on March 2, the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington held two rounds of direct talks, the first between the two countries in decades. After the first round, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire that took effect on April 17 for a period of 10 days, before later announcing a three-week extension after the second round of talks.

Lebanese authorities have repeatedly stated that the US-sponsored negotiations aim to end the war, secure Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and enable displaced residents to return to their areas, after the fighting displaced more than one million people.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to carry out air and artillery strikes, particularly in southern Lebanon, while its forces conduct widespread demolition and blasting operations in many border towns, where it has announced the establishment of a “yellow line” separating dozens of villages from the rest of Lebanese territory.

At least 2,509 people have been killed and 7,755 injured in Lebanon as a result of Israeli attacks since the start of the war on March 2, according to the Health Ministry.

Arab World

Hezbollah Leader Rejects Lebanon-Israel Direct Talks, Vows to Confront Israel

People hold up portraits of Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, top, and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents drive back to their villages, in Jiyyeh, near Sidon, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
People hold up portraits of Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, top, and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents drive back to their villages, in Jiyyeh, near Sidon, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
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Hezbollah Leader Rejects Lebanon-Israel Direct Talks, Vows to Confront Israel

People hold up portraits of Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, top, and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents drive back to their villages, in Jiyyeh, near Sidon, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
People hold up portraits of Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, top, and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents drive back to their villages, in Jiyyeh, near Sidon, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Monday rejected Lebanon's planned direct negotiations with Israel, calling them a "grave sin" that will destabilize Lebanon. 

Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors held two meetings in Washington over the past weeks, the first of their kind in decades. 

The first meeting led to a truce in the Israel-Hezbollah war, while Beirut has been preparing for direct negotiations with the aim of striking a peace deal with Israel. The two countries have officially been at war since 1948. 

"We categorically reject direct negotiations with Israel, and those in power should know that their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves," Qassem said in a statement, aired by the group's channel Al-Manar. 

He called on authorities to "back down from their grave sin that is putting Lebanon in a spiral of instability". 

He added that the Lebanese government "cannot continue while it is neglecting Lebanon's rights, giving up land, and confronting its resistant people". 

Lebanese authorities have repeatedly stated that the goal of the US-sponsored negotiations is to stop the war, secure Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and return displaced people to their homes after the fighting forced more than a million people to flee. 

"These direct negotiations and their outcomes are as if they do not exist for us, and they do not concern us in the slightest," Qassem said. 

"We will continue our defensive resistance for Lebanon and its people," he added. 

"No matter how much the enemy threatens, we will not back down, we will not bow down, and we will not be defeated. 

"We will not give up our weapons... and the Israeli enemy will not remain on a single inch of our occupied land." 

Tehran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. 

Since the truce went into force on April 17, Israeli strikes have killed at least 36 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures. 

Hezbollah has meanwhile claimed several attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, as well as missile and drone launches at northern Israel, saying it is responding to Israeli "violations". 

According to details of the truce released by the US State Department, which said both Lebanon and Israel agreed to it, Israel reserves the right to continue targeting Hezbollah to prevent "planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks". 

Hezbollah strongly rejects this clause, saying the text of the agreement was not presented to the cabinet, in which the group and its allies are represented. 

"Has the government decided to work alongside the Israeli enemy against its own people?" Qassem said in his speech. 

Israeli attacks on Lebanon killed more than 2,500 people since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities. 

Arab World

Did Israel’s War on Lebanon Drive Syrian Refugees Back Home?

Syrian refugees in Lebanon return to their country through the Masnaa crossing after the fall of the Syrian regime in December 2024. (EPA)
Syrian refugees in Lebanon return to their country through the Masnaa crossing after the fall of the Syrian regime in December 2024. (EPA)
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Did Israel’s War on Lebanon Drive Syrian Refugees Back Home?

Syrian refugees in Lebanon return to their country through the Masnaa crossing after the fall of the Syrian regime in December 2024. (EPA)
Syrian refugees in Lebanon return to their country through the Masnaa crossing after the fall of the Syrian regime in December 2024. (EPA)

Israel’s war on Lebanon has accelerated the return of Syrian refugees, but officials and aid agencies say it has not by itself resolved, or fundamentally transformed, the displacement crisis.

Nearly one million Syrians remain in Lebanon despite Israel’s wars on Lebanon when Hezbollah opened a “support front” in solidarity with Hamas in 2023. Many refugees, meanwhile, still view remaining in Lebanon as preferable to returning to a country where homes and jobs may no longer exist.

Others have left. According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), more than 593,000 Syrian refugees have returned from Lebanon since January 2025, while Syrian authorities estimate around 260,000 crossed back between March 2 and April 20, 2026 as hostilities intensified.

Official figures show 95 Syrians were killed and 130 wounded in the latest round of fighting between March 2 and April 17.

For some, however, war has not changed the situation.

Faisal, a 41-year-old construction worker from Deir Ezzor living in Mount Lebanon for a decade, said returning to Syria remains too uncertain.

“Going back now means returning to the unknown,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat. “Here, despite the risks, I can still support my family.”

Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed argued the rise in returns cannot be attributed mainly to war.

She told Asharq Al-Awsat that a government return plan adopted in June 2025 marked the real turning point, supported by administrative facilitations, financial incentives and coordination between Lebanese General Security and the UN refugee agency.

According to Sayed, 581,107 Syrians had returned before the latest conflict erupted in early March, while another 198,404 left during the war.

“That shows return was already under way before the fighting,” she stated, noting that many refugees could have moved to safer parts of Lebanon but instead chose Syria, suggesting the government’s strategy was gaining traction.

She said Syrian authorities had also contributed through policies intended to facilitate return and reintegration. Still, she stopped short of calling it a lasting solution.

“The displacement crisis is on its way to being resolved, but it has not reached a final settlement,” she underlined, noting Lebanon was preparing a review of the return plan later this year.

At the same time, she warned the war had created a new Lebanese internal displacement crisis, adding another humanitarian burden.

Lisa Abou Khaled, spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Lebanon, said decisions to return still depend less on war than on conditions inside Syria, including shelter, healthcare, education and livelihoods.

The current hostilities may have hastened returns for some, she told Asharq Al-Awsat, but often as a forced response rather than a voluntary shift.

“When refugees feel they have no alternative but to return, our role is to reduce risks and support them through the process,” she remarked.

UNHCR provides returnees with information, transport support and a $100 grant per person to help cover immediate needs.