Albanizi calls for the arrest of Katz, Ben-Gvir, and Smotrich

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, said that Israel is carrying out a systematic torture of Palestinians on a scale that reflects 'mass retaliation and a destructive intent,' calling for arrest warrants for Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich.

“Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, said that Israel is carrying out a systematic torture of Palestinians on a scale that reflects 'mass retaliation and a destructive intent,' calling for arrest warrants for Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich”

Al-Jazeera Net

In a new report titled 'Torture and Genocide,' Albanese said that since the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war, detained Palestinians have endured 'extremely cruel physical and psychological abuses.'

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The report is scheduled to be presented before the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday.

The report addresses 'Israel's systematic use of torture against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories since October 7, 2023.'

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It notes that 'torture in detention centers has been used on an unprecedented scale as a form of collective punishment.'

It adds: 'The brutal beatings, sexual violence and rape, cruel treatment and deadly abuse, starvation, and the deliberate denial of the most basic elements of human life have left deep and lasting scars on the bodies and minds of tens of thousands of Palestinians and their loved ones.'

It continued: 'Torture has become an integral part of controlling men, women and children and punishing them, whether through ill-treatment during detention or through a continuing campaign of forced displacement and mass killings and deprivation and the destruction of all livelihoods, with the aim of inflicting long-term collective pain and suffering.'

Israel is a party to the Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

“Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, said that Israel is carrying out a systematic torture of Palestinians on a scale that reflects 'mass retaliation and a destructive intent,' calling for arrest warrants for Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich”

Al-Jazeera Net

Albanese said she has gathered written memoranda including more than 300 testimonies.

'Widespread Humiliation.'

Francesca said in the report that since October 2023 'the arrests of Palestinians in the occupied territories have risen sharply,' with more than 18,500 people detained, including at least 1,500 children.

The report notes that around 9,000 Palestinians remain in detention, while 'more than 4,000 have been forcibly disappeared.'

Albanese said the Israeli detention system 'has slid into a system of systematic and wide-ranging humiliation, coercion, and terror.'

She stressed that Israel must 'immediately stop all acts of torture and ill-treatment of the Palestinian people as part of the ongoing genocide,' and urged all states to 'do everything in their power to stop destroying what remains of Palestine.'

Since Israel launched a genocide in Gaza on October 8, 2023, killing more than 72,000 Palestinians and injuring 172,000 others, with widespread destruction affecting 90% of Gaza's infrastructure.

Francesca urged the ICC Prosecutor to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Betzalel Smotrich.

Al-Jazeera Net

Albanese has faced accusations of anti-Semitism and calls for her removal by Israel and some of its allies, due to her ongoing criticisms and repeated accusations against the State of Israel of committing 'genocide.'