HARARE — The State of Palestine has intensified calls for international accountability over the fate of Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip, accusing Israeli occupation authorities of systematically concealing the whereabouts and conditions of thousands of people detained during the ongoing war.
Marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Ambassador Tamer Almassri said the absence of information on detainees represents a serious challenge to the protection of human rights and the rule of law.
The State of Palestine argues that the continued refusal to disclose the identities, locations and medical conditions of detainees, alongside restrictions on access by families, lawyers and human rights organisations, creates a system in which those detained are effectively removed from meaningful legal protection.
The Palestinian Government says the issue is particularly serious because concealment limits independent scrutiny of detention conditions and can create an environment in which alleged torture, ill-treatment and medical neglect occur without effective oversight.
Under international law, enforced disappearance is prohibited regardless of whether a country is at peace, experiencing armed conflict or operating under a state of emergency. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance specifically addresses situations in which a person is deprived of liberty and authorities subsequently refuse to acknowledge the detention or conceal information concerning the person’s fate or whereabouts.
For Palestine, establishing the whereabouts of detainees has therefore become inseparable from the broader question of accountability in Gaza.
Ambassador Almassri stressed that determining the fate of those missing cannot be treated as an issue that can simply be deferred until the end of the conflict. He described it as a measure of the international community’s willingness to uphold international law and protect civilians and detainees during war.
The statement places the detainee issue against the backdrop of the continuing humanitarian devastation in Gaza, where Palestinian authorities cited a death toll of 73,454, with 174,486 injured, since October 2023.
It further cited more than 12,000 people reportedly trapped beneath rubble and along roads, amid continued difficulties faced by ambulance and rescue teams in reaching affected areas.
Ambassador Almassri also condemned Israeli politicians whom he accused of using military escalation and Palestinian casualties to advance domestic electoral interests.
The State of Palestine’s appeal ultimately extends beyond the immediate identification of missing detainees. It calls for a system in which detention is acknowledged, families are informed, legal representation is possible and independent humanitarian organisations can establish the conditions in which detainees are being held.
The Palestinian position is that without such safeguards, the disappearance of detainees becomes more than an absence of information. It becomes a profound challenge to the principle that no person deprived of liberty should be placed beyond the protection of the law.
