Since October 7, 2023, Palestinian detainees held by Israel have faced widespread torture and inhumane treatment, as documented by human rights organizations and media reports. Thousands have been detained, without charge, under administrative detention or as “unlawful combatants.” Detainees report severe abuse, including physical torture (beatings, electric shocks, stress positions), sexual violence (rape, sexual assault, forced nudity), psychological abuse (threats against family, forced confessions, solitary confinement), and denial of medical care for injuries and chronic conditions. The Sde Teiman detention camp has been cited for particularly brutal treatment, with regular reports of torture and degrading conditions. Healthcare workers have been specifically targeted, with many doctors, nurses, and paramedics detained during hospital raids. They, too, have been subjected to beatings, threats, and sexual abuse.

Since March 2, 2025, when Israel cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza, the situation has spiraled into one of the worst hunger crises in the world. At least 57 children have died from malnutrition, and nearly 71,000 more under the age of five are expected to become severely malnourished in the coming months. People in Gaza are trapped in a deadly cycle: lack of food weakens their bodies, which makes it harder to fight disease, while sickness makes it even harder for their bodies to absorb what little nutrition is available. Mothers, especially those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, are also suffering, struggling to nourish themselves and their babies. Meanwhile, life-saving supplies from the WHO and other aid groups sit just outside Gaza, unable to enter due to the blockade, as people inside starve, fall sick, and die.

On June 1, 2025, Palestinians in Rafah walked toward what they believed was a lifeline, an aid distribution center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Instead, it became a death trap. As crowds approached, Israeli forces opened fire, killing at least 31 people and injuring over 170. Witnesses described gunfire from tanks, drones, and naval boats, with many victims shot in the back as they tried to flee. This was just one in a string of deadly incidents: on May 27, 10 people were killed and 62 wounded; on May 31, three more were killed; and on June 3, at least 27 were killed and over 160 injured. The UN’s human rights chief warned that Palestinians now face an impossible choice - risk being shot while trying to get food, or die from hunger.

Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, a pediatrician in Gaza, lost nine of her ten children when an Israeli airstrike hit her home on May 23, 2025, while she was working at a hospital. Her husband, also a doctor, was critically injured in the same attack and later died from his wounds. Only their 11-year-old son, Adam, survived, though he remains hospitalized with serious injuries. The tragedy has drawn international attention, with offers of medical evacuation and support. Dr. al-Najjar’s story has come to symbolize the devastating toll of the war on civilians and healthcare workers in Gaza

On March 23, 2025, Israeli forces killed 15 aid workers in Rafah, Gaza, including paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent, civil defense staff, and a UN employee. The workers were responding to earlier strikes when their clearly marked vehicles were targeted. Their bodies were later found buried in a mass grave. One of the two survivors, paramedic Assad al-Nsasrah, recounted that Israeli troops continued to fire on injured medics calling for help. He was detained, subjected to 37 days of torture, and released following international pressure. Israel initially denied wrongdoing but, after video evidence surfaced, admitted “professional failures” and dismissed a commander.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a prominent Palestinian paediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, was detained by Israeli forces on December 27, 2024, during a military raid on the hospital. He was arrested without charges under Israel’s “Unlawful Combatant” Law, which allows detention without trial. In March 2025, his detention was extended by six months. Reports from his lawyer and human rights organizations indicate he has been subjected to torture and inhumane treatment in prison, including physical abuse, solitary confinement, and denial of medical care, despite having serious health conditions like an enlarged heart and high blood pressure.

On July 13, Israeli airstrikes targeted the Al-Mawasi area near Khan Yunis, a zone previously designated as a "safe area" for displaced Palestinians. The attack resulted in at least 90 deaths and over 300 injuries, including women and children. Displaced people sheltering in the area said their tents were torn down by the force of the strikes and have described bodies and body parts strewn on the ground.

May 26, 2024

On May 26, 2024, the IOF carried out a massacre at a tent camp in Tel al-Sultan, setting fire to a Palestinian displacement camp. The week before the massacre, the Israeli military had distributed Arabic language leaflets instructing Palestinians to go to the “humanitarian area in Tel al-Sultan.” The leaflets ominously warned the readers, “Don’t blame us after we warned you.” The strike which used American-made GBU-39 bombs, killed 45 Palestinians, including 8 children, burning some of them alive in their tents. Many of those killed had been displaced multiple times.

June 8, 2024

In what was described as a ‘complete bloodbath’, at least 274 Palestinians, including dozens of children, were killed, and hundreds more were wounded, as the IOF conducted a raid to free four hostages. Following the raid, the hospitals receiving the injured “looked like slaughterhouses”. As the IOF withdrew with four hostages, they left death and destruction in their wake, as streets were filled with civilian body parts and many injured bleeding out. The authorities in Gaza announced that 274 Palestinians, including 64 children and 57 women, had been killed, with more than 400 injuries, and that 89 inhabited homes or residential buildings had been bombed during the raid.

On April 1, 2024, an Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, as they delivered food aid. The convoy included three vehicles, two of which were armored and clearly marked with WCK logos, and had coordinated its route with the Israeli military. Despite operating in a designated “deconflicted” zone, the convoy was hit by three missiles over a short period. Human Rights Watch confirmed that the strike occurred despite prior coordination with Israeli forces. The victims included aid workers from Palestine, Australia, the U.S./Canada, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

At least 118 Palestinians were killed and 760 injured after Israeli forces opened fire while they were seeking food from aid trucks on the coastal Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City. In the early hours of Thursday morning, as thousands of malnourished Palestinians tried to claw their way to some food, the soldiers opened fire. According to Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul, who was at the scene, the firing took place in two bursts, the first as people seized the goods and the second when the crowd returned to the trucks.

Six-year-old Hind Rajab was fleeing Gaza City with her family when their car was attacked by an Israeli tank, killing six of her relatives. Hind and her cousin Layan Hamadeh initially survived, and Layan called the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) for help. During the call, gunfire resumed, killing Layan and leaving Hind trapped alone with the bodies of her family members. Hind remained on the phone for three hours, pleading for help, but the ambulance sent to rescue her was also attacked, killing two paramedics. Investigations confirmed the presence of Israeli tanks near the scene and found that the car was hit by hundreds of bullets at close range, with the tank likely just 13 to 23 meters away.

Jabalia Refugee Camp is home to 116,000 Palestinians and is the largest refugee camp in Palestine. Since October 7, the Israeli Occupation Forces poured out its anger on Jabalia , carrying out four of the most violent and brutal massacres so far. In addition to the crimes of premeditated killings, arbitrary arrests, and targeting of civilians, the Israeli military operation in Jabalia has resulted in massive destruction. The attacks have destroyed entire residential blocks and impacted hundreds of homes and buildings, including shelter centres, UNRWA-affiliated medical and food centres, and UNRWA-funded water wells.

Al-Shifa Hospital was placed under siege by the IOF several times since the beginning of the genocide. The first siege started on November 11, 2023. At the time, the hospital contained 1,500 patients, 1,500 medical workers and around 15,000 displaced people seeking shelter. There were over 100 dead bodies placed in the courtyard and later buried by medical staff in a mass grave due to the siege. Additionally, premature babies and ICU patients died due to lack of fuel for incubators and medical equipment. In mid March 2024, the IOF besieged the hospital compound again. Advancing under relentless bombardment, the IOF carried out horrific acts of mass slaughter. After two weeks of carnage, over 400 bodies were uncovered , half of them children and women.

An Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital, killed at least 500 people, mostly children and women. Images revealed body parts scattered across the hospital grounds and doctors performing emergency surgeries in corridors without anaesthesia.