A UN human rights official on Friday accused Israel of mistreating Palestinian prisoners in Gaza, saying he had met people who said they had been held for weeks, beaten and blindfolded before some were released. with diapers, reports Reuters.

Ajit Sungai, the UN human rights representative in Gaza, told reporters that it was unclear exactly how many men had been detained by Israel since the start of a military operation in the Palestinian enclave in response to a deadly attack by Hamas on October 7, but put the number in the several thousand.

“These are men who were detained by Israeli security forces in unknown locations for a period of 30 to 55 days,” Sungai told reporters in Geneva via video link from Gaza.

According to him, he just met with the released prisoners in the besieged enclave. “There are reports that men are being released later, but only in diapers, without proper clothing in this cold weather,” he added.

How Israel defends itself

The Israeli military said it was detaining and interrogating suspected militants – without disclosing the number – as part of its operations in Gaza’s war zones.

The detainees were “treated in accordance with international law,” and those who were not involved in hostilities were released, the Israeli army’s press service said.

It said the suspects were asked to surrender their clothing so they could be searched “to ensure they are not concealing explosive vests or other weapons” and that those detained were given their clothes back “whenever possible”.

Asked why some of the released prisoners were in diapers, Sangai said: “So we don’t know exactly why they were put in diapers and sent away, but they were clearly shocked and even stunned when we met them.”

In December, Israeli television showed images of Palestinian men stripped down to their underwear in Gaza. The images, which were also shared on social media, drew condemnation from Palestinian, Arab and Muslim officials.

At the time, Israeli government spokesman Eilon Levy said the images showed “men of draft age who were found in areas from which civilians had to be evacuated weeks ago.”