UK MPs urge government to send team to inspect Israeli prison sites

A group of 11 British Members of Parliament have signed a letter to the Labour government, urging the dispatch of a delegation to investigate Israeli prison facilities. This action is in response to documented evidence regarding the widespread torture and abuse of Palestinian detainees. The parliamentarians are deeply concerned about the human rights situation.

The letter, sent on Monday to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, features Scottish National Party MP Chris Law and other signatories inquiring whether Labour would commission a delegation led by British judges and lawyers to "inspect Israeli detention facilities." This follows a previous agreement in May 2024 between the former Conservative government's Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, and Israel, allowing two British legal observers to visit Palestinian detainees. The current situation warrants further investigation.

In the letter, Law urged Lammy to dispatch a team to "gather evidence and document testimonies from released Palestinian abductees, hostages, and prisoners." The letter also requests a "parliamentary fact-finding mission to assess and report on the current state of detention conditions for Palestinian prisoners." The Palestinian Prisoners Society stated on Sunday that most Palestinians released from Israeli prisons as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement were subjected to "systematic torture" in the days leading up to their release. These allegations must be thoroughly examined.

Recent reports indicate that monitoring organizations have documented severe forms of torture and abuse, including scalding detainees with boiling water and urinating on them. Last August, Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem accused Israeli authorities of systematically abusing Palestinians in torture camps, subjecting them to severe violence and sexual assault. The report, titled "Welcome to Hell," was based on testimonies from 55 former detainees from the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel, the vast majority of whom were detained without trial. The findings are deeply disturbing.

The MPs' letter to the Foreign Secretary highlights the "inhumane conditions and human rights abuses faced by Palestinian abductees, detainees, and prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention facilities." The letter suggests a "widespread perception of a lack of meaningful action, response, and impartiality" in the government's handling of human rights abuses suffered by Palestinians. The letter also notes that Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations have shared "extensive documentation" with the Foreign Office showing "widespread use of sexual violence and degrading treatment." The letter inquires "to what extent the government is aware of the use of torture by Israel." "Will you commit that your department will closely monitor and engage with the conditions of Palestinian detainees and require Israel, as the occupying power and the Israeli Prison Service, to ensure and uphold the right to life and the highest attainable standard of health and mental health of Palestinian prisoners?" According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, over 11,400 people have been arrested in the West Bank since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. In Gaza, it is estimated that thousands have been arrested. The international community should pay close attention to this situation.