According to a human rights official, Palestinian men were detained by Israeli security forces in unknown locations for 30 to 55 days.

A United Nations human rights official has called for an end to Israeli security forces’ abuse of Palestinian detainees in the Gaza Strip, who were subjected to weeks of detention in unknown locations and physical abuse.

Ajith Sunghay said Palestinian men were held by Israeli forces for 30 to 55 days in a report on Friday during his visit to Gaza, where he met some of the released prisoners.

“There are reports of men being subsequently released wearing only diapers and without proper clothing in this cold weather,” he said, adding that it was not clear why they were forced to wear diapers, but that “ They were obviously visibly shocked and…”shattered even when I met them”.

Several videos shared by the Israeli army since the start of the war show hundreds of Palestinian men stripped to their underwear, sitting outdoors in the cold, sometimes blindfolded. Women and children were also seen in some videos.

The videos were recorded in locations across the Gaza Strip, including Beit Lahiya, Shujayea and Jabalia.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights MonitorSeveral released prisoners said that after being forced to curse themselves and disparage Palestinian groups and political figures, they were transferred in trucks to open-air prisons where they endured beatings and other forms of ill-treatment.

“Israel must take urgent steps to ensure that all those arrested or detained are treated in accordance with international human rights and the norms and standards of international humanitarian law, in particular with full respect for their due process rights,” Sunghay said.

“Unless Israel can demonstrate compelling security reasons for each person detained, they must be charged or released.”

Separately, several prisoners were released on Friday Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip arrived at Abu Youssef Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza, accusing the Israeli army of mistreating them.

“We were arrested by Israeli special forces in al-Saftawi area. We were then tortured and beaten. Then… they transferred us to an internment camp at the Israeli army headquarters,” Muhammad Abu Samra told Al Jazeera.

“The army…threatened to shoot us while we lay naked in the cold. Then we were attacked by female soldiers and we were subjected to obscene insults.”

‘pressure cooker’

The United Nations’ Sunghay, who was in Rafah, said people continued to arrive in the southern city, “setting up makeshift shelters in desperate situations and with whatever material they could get their hands on.”

“I saw men and children digging for bricks to hold tents made of plastic bags in place. “This is a massive human rights crisis,” he said.

“Given the dire humanitarian situation, shortages and pervasive fear and anger, there is an atmosphere of pressure here, amid utter chaos,” Sunghay noted, adding that humanitarian assistance to the coastal enclave urgently needs to be increased.

As of Friday, 24,762 people According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 62,108 have been killed and injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the current conflict began in October.

The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attack stands at 1,139.