Israel has detained hundreds, perhaps thousands, of civilians and combatants in Gaza and has held them without charge inside Israel in a secretive legal framework that rights groups say is ripe for abuse.
Released civilian detainees have told The Post they were subjected to physical and psychological violence, blindfolded and forced to kneel all day, and denied access to lawyers.
Israel reserves the authority to hold Gazans without charge under the 2002 Unlawful Combatants Law, a form of administrative detention that rights groups say violates international law. Israel was holding 606 undisclosed Gazans under the law as of Feb. 1, according to the Israeli rights group Hamoked.
Israeli authorities say they need to use the law to respond to Hamas’s attack. The IDF told The Post it removes combatants “from the cycle of hostilities” and “grants several procedural safeguards and basic rights.”
Rights advocates object.
“One can see the detention of these doctors as an extension to the attacks on hospitals and medical facilities, which are supposed to be protected under international law,” said Budour Hassan, an Amnesty International researcher.
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