Confessions of detained Palestinians in the Gaza war
During the Gaza war, the Israel Defense Forces released videos of detained Palestinians in which they confessed to committing various crimes. Israel has used these videos to promote its narrative of the war. Many news sources and human rights organizations say these confessions were extracted under torture. Some Palestinians who were later released confirmed they were forced to make such confessions.
During the Gaza war, Israel detained thousands of Palestinians; these included: those captured during the October 7 attacks, Palestinians on work permits inside Israel, and those captured from the Gaza invasion and West Bank incursions. The detained Palestinians have been tortured and 36 of them have died in custody. In October 2023, Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet and IDF's Unit 504, began releasing summaries and videos of what they said were "Hamas militants". Shin Bet officers said that during their interrogations, Palestinians confessed to murdering and raping Israelis and mutilating dead Israeli bodies during the October 7 attacks, and that many Palestinians further confessed to killing women, children and even infants. Shin Bet spokesperson Shalom Ben Hanan said the results of these interrogations were meant for Western audiences, to promote Israel's narrative. In November, during Al-Shifa Hospital siege, Israel released confessions of Palestinians claiming Hamas was using the hospital for military purposes.
Immediately after the initial videos were released, news sources began questioning whether the confessions were extracted under duress. They noted, for example, the Palestinians in the videos had bruises on their faces, and blood on their clothes. Palestinians later released confirmed they were beaten by Israeli interrogators to make statements. UNRWA staff who were later released said they were coerced (through beating and waterboarding) to confess ties to Hamas. Some Israeli officials criticized Shin Bet for releasing the Palestinians. In August 2024, B'Tselem released a report detailing widespread and systemic torture of Palestinian detainees, and that these detainees reported being beaten during interrogations. Other sources also stated that during interrogations, Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza and in locations such as the Sde Teiman detention camp detention camp have been subjected to rape, gang-rape, sexualized torture and mutilation among other forms of sexual violence, as well as psychological and physical torture by both male and female Israeli soldiers and medical staff.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights Israel have denounced such taped alleged confessions, stating that they were likely extracted under torture, violate international law and basic human rights, and should be considered inadmissible as credible evidence. They also called on the Israeli government to cease publishing taped "confessions".