US claim it has no information on Israeli torture 'remarkable and wrong': Rights group

US President Joe Biden's administration has said it is "deeply concerned" about recent reports of Israel torturing Palestinian detainees in a military base in the Negev Desert, but those comments have been criticised by a leading rights group that says Washington should have information about Israel's detention conditions.

"The fact that the US government appears not to have information from the Israeli government on detention conditions and torture allegations is remarkable and wrong," Sarah Yager, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, told Middle East Eye.

"Clearly US officials should have eyes on Israel's conduct. If they truly don't, that needs to change – including knowing whether or not detainees are being tortured," she added, noting that US weapons have been "supporting Israel throughout their Gaza campaign".

Over the past several weeks, several US media outlets have reported that Israeli detention centres have been using torture on Palestinian detainees, with the focus being on the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev Desert.

Most recently, the New York Times published a three-month-long investigation into the treatment of Palestinians at Sde Teiman. The report found systematic sexual abuse and torture perpetrated against detained Palestinians, with one account of that treatment revealing one detainee "died after they put the electric stick up" his anus.

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