UN Committee Against Torture Condemns Israel’s “De Facto State Policy” of Organized Torture

In a landmark report issued on November 28, 2025, the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) delivered a scathing condemnation of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees, asserting that the country maintains a “de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture.” The findings come amid mounting international alarm over systemic human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly following the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas and the subsequent military response by Israel.

While the Committee unequivocally condemned the October 7 attacks and recognized Israel’s legitimate security concerns, it expressed profound concern over the disproportionate nature of Israel’s military actions, which have resulted in catastrophic civilian casualties and humanitarian suffering in Gaza. More critically, the report focuses on Israel’s domestic practices, particularly within its detention and interrogation systems, which the Committee concludes constitute violations of the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT)—a treaty to which Israel is a state party.

Among the most alarming findings is the absence of specific legislation in Israel that criminalizes torture as a distinct offense. Instead, Israeli law permits public officials—including security and intelligence personnel—to invoke a “necessity” defense to justify the use of “unlawful physical pressure” during interrogations. This legal loophole, the Committee noted, effectively shields perpetrators from accountability and institutionalizes impunity. Furthermore, the continued use of undisclosed “special means” during interrogations—methods whose exact nature remains classified—was cited as a serious concern, as these practices may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

The report highlights a marked deterioration in conditions since late 2022, coinciding with the appointment of Itamar Ben-Gvir as Minister of National Security. Under his oversight of the police and prison system, testimonies from Palestinian detainees have increasingly described severe abuses, including beatings, medical neglect, sexual violence, and prolonged solitary confinement. The Committee also expressed alarm over the widespread use of administrative detention—imprisonment without charge or trial—and the phenomenon of enforced disappearances, wherein families are often unaware of a relative’s detention for months.

Beyond detention practices, the Committee criticized Israel’s broader policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, warning that, if implemented as alleged, they create living conditions that amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment for the Palestinian population. This includes restrictions on movement, access to basic services, and humanitarian aid—particularly in Gaza, where the blockade has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis.

In light of these findings, the Committee called on Israel to take immediate and concrete steps to align its practices with its international obligations. These include: enacting specific legislation that defines and criminalizes torture in accordance with the UNCAT; abolishing the “necessity” defense; disclosing the nature of all “special means” used in interrogations; establishing an independent and impartial commission to investigate all allegations of torture since October 2023; prosecuting perpetrators—including those in positions of command responsibility; and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.

Sexual assault, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, and other forms of severe torture against Palestinians have become the norm in Israeli prisons

The CAT’s findings underscore a fundamental principle of international law: that the prohibition of torture is absolute, non-derogable, and applies under all circumstances—including during armed conflict or states of emergency. No exceptional circumstances, however grave, may be invoked to justify torture. States that fail to uphold this norm not only violate their treaty obligations but also erode the very foundation of human dignity and the rule of law.

Countries that systematically violate anti-torture treaties often exhibit patterns of institutionalized impunity, weakened judicial oversight, and the normalization of violence against marginalized populations. Such practices not only inflict profound harm on victims but also destabilize societies, fuel cycles of violence, and undermine global human rights architecture.

The UN Committee’s report on Israel serves as both a condemnation and a call to action. It reaffirms that adherence to international human rights law is not optional, even in times of crisis. For the international community, the findings emphasize the urgent need for robust accountability mechanisms, diplomatic pressure, and support for independent investigations to ensure that no state operates above the law—especially when it comes to one of humanity’s most universally condemned crimes: torture.

Recently, a Palestinian journalist has testified that Israeli forces subjected him to rape, sexual torture, and severe abuse at the Sde Teiman detention center, leaving him with lasting psychological trauma, according to the Palestinian Center for Journalists’ Protection. After being abducted on 18 March 2024 during an Israeli raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, while wearing his press vest, he spent 20 months in detention, including three at Sde Teiman and one at Ofer, and suffered a mental collapse for more than two months.

He reported group sexual assaults, physical and psychological torture, electric shocks, starvation, religious insults, sleep deprivation, and harsh interrogations, alongside inhuman detention conditions marked by overcrowding, poor hygiene, lack of food and water, and witnessing unexplained deaths in custody. Medical and legal experts confirmed symptoms of acute stress disorder and PTSD. The center said the abuses amount to rape and sexual torture under international law and may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity if systematic. It urged referral of the case to the International Criminal Court, noting growing evidence of systematic torture of Palestinian journalists in Israeli prisons.