The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) published a report on Tuesday saying it had documented the release of 1,506 Palestinian detainees via the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing on 4 April, many of whom had suffered torture, ill-treatment, and sexual violence at the hands of Israeli forces.

UNRWA staff members were among the released detainees and the report said they were forced to confess to actions they were innocent of.

“I saw people [in detention] 70 years old, very old. There were people with Alzheimer’s, old people who were blind, people with disabilities who couldn’t walk, people who had shrapnel in their backs and couldn’t stand up, people with epilepsy… and torture was for everyone,” the UNRWA report quoted a 46-year-old detainee as saying.

Some were made to sit on their knees for 12-16 hours a day with their hands tied.

Dogs were also used to attack the detainees, with some of those released, including children, having dog bite wounds on their bodies.

Women were verbally harassed and touched inappropriately by soldiers and were forced to strip naked in front of male soldiers. Some were photographed and filmed naked.