Thread by @FranceskAlbs

1/Due to the inability to enter the oPt, I turned my planned field visit into a 75day long series of consultations, including individual & town-hall meetings. I also conducted "virtual tours" with Palestinian & Israeli NGOs. My main observations: are here: ohchr.org/sites/default/…

2/Draconian regulations & law enforcement operations in the oPt often lead to arbitrary arrest&detention, violations of fair trial & ill-treatment.While most of these violations can be attributed to Israeli authorities, Palestinian authorities also bear significant responsibility

3/Over 55yrs,Israel has established what can be described as an open-air prison in the oPt, exemplified by the 17yrs long Gaza blockade. The limitations on rights&freedoms are not confined to traditional prison cells, & are enforced through spatial,bureaucratic & digital controls

4/ Israel's large-scale arrests & detentions of Palestinians can be linked first and foremost to the heavy presence of illegal settlers; available data show that 90% of arrests in the West Bank take place near (within 1km from) colonies.

5/ Refugee camps are prime targets of collective punishment measures such as curfews, home demolitions, movement restrictions, and frequent military incursions. In 2022 refugee camps in West Bank/Jerusalem suffered more than 800 military incursions out of a total 2000 in the area

6/ NIGHT incursions & home searches are deliberately frequent: in 2022 one Palestinian village registered 16 incursions over one month. According to Israeli sources, this is one way for soldiers to “make their presence felt” and “ensure that Palestinians keep their heads down”.

7/Carceral violence & abuses reported under the
Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, generally target political opponents, often among the youth & in/around university circles. This aggravates the stifling control Palestinians experience under occupation.

8/Among the violations attributable to the de facto authorities in the Gaza Strip, I found the denial of fair trial and ill-treatment reportedly high in Gaza detention centers. Among others, I am investigating the case of two Israelis detained by the de facto authorities.

9/ In the oPt, the imprisonment experience trespasses life: I was astonished to learn that Israeli authorities withhold the bodies of 125 Palestinians who either died in prison or during a "confrontation". Gaza authorities also withhold the bodies of two deceased Israelis.

10/Among the aberrations I regularly observe, none is so abominable as the treatment of Palestinian children: arrested at young age, sentenced from the age of 12, often subjected to solitary confinement and ill-treatment. The term "unchilding" barely describes their plight.

11/ More can be found in the end of (non)country visit statement (link attached above), and in the full report that I am still writing, to be presented to the #HRC this year.