Opinon: Israel's savage slaughter and mass torture in Gaza must end now

When darkness falls in Gaza, no one can be certain if they will live out the night.

If they do survive this collective punishment, Palestinians also risk being abducted and disappeared from their homes during the night.

As the world marked the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June, reports of widespread torture and abuse were emerging from all corners of Gaza and Israeli detention and torture centres in the desert.

In observance of the occasion, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated: "Torturers must never be allowed to get away with their crimes, and systems that enable torture should be dismantled or transformed."

Yet the institutions meant to prevent such crimes against humanity are either feckless or indifferent. Thirty-seven years after the Convention Against Torture came into effect, violations of human dignity not only persist but have escalated.

In Gaza today, Palestinians are subjected to two types of mass torture: the first is the abduction from their homes by Israeli soldiers during night-time military raids - stripping them down of "anything that resembles human beings" in Israeli torture camps. The second is the infliction of such horrific levels of violence on the entire civilian population that it constitutes torture.

Read more:  Israel's savage slaughter and mass torture in Gaza must end now by Ghada Ageel