Marina Forti
17K posts
@fortimar
Independent journalist. My latest book is "Malaterra. Così hanno avvelenato l'Italia" (Laterza, 2018)
⚖️ UN EXPERT: Israel Using Torture In ‘Genocidal’ Campaign against Palestinians A new report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese finds Israel has systematically used torture against Palestinians since Oct. 2023, describing it as a core tool of genocide. ➤ Systematic torture as policy: Based on 300+ testimonies, the report says torture is embedded across detention sites and daily life, aimed at “breaking bodies” and forcing Palestinians from their land. ➤ Mass detention and abuse: Over 18,500 Palestinians have been detained, including children. Detainees face starvation, beatings, sexual violence, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, and denial of medical care. Deaths in custody range from 84 to 94+, with many cases concealed. ➤ Sexual violence documented: The report details rape and other forms of sexual abuse against detainees, used as a method of humiliation, coercion, and control. ➤ Targeting professionals: Doctors, journalists, UN staff, and academics are singled out, indicating an effort to dismantle Palestinian society’s capacity to function. ➤ Gaza as “torture environment”: The report says Israel has turned Gaza into a space where no place is safe, combining bombardment, displacement, starvation, and destruction of homes, hospitals, and cultural sites to inflict collective suffering. ➤ Starvation and siege: Policies cutting food, water, fuel, and aid are described as deliberate tools of mass suffering, with hundreds already dead from malnutrition. ➤ Psychological terror: Constant surveillance, forced displacement of nearly 2 million people, and repeated strikes on “safe zones” create what the report calls a permanent state of fear and coercion. The report from @FranceskAlbs concludes torture is being used both as a method and as evidence of genocidal intent, forming part of a broader system of domination, destruction, and forced removal.
Historian Alfred McCoy says Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz carries echoes of the Suez Crisis of 1956, when Egypt was attacked by Israel, France and the United Kingdom and responded by blocking the canal. He says that crisis marked the end of the British empire, and Trump's "ill-advised" war could similarly mark the end of U.S. hegemony.
UN experts concerned by #Israel altering Jerusalem’s demographic composition, religious character & legal status. These acts constitute the ethnic cleansing of #Palestine, by whatever means, whatever the cost and whatever crimes it takes. ohchr.org/en/press-relea…
Israel has killed at least 477 Palestinians and injured over 1,300 since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, carrying out nearly daily attacks since then.
