Palestinians allege torture and sexual violence in Israeli prisons

Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault that may be distressing for some readers.

Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons have revealed how they endured inhumane treatment from guards and soldiers, including torture and sexual violence. Many former prisoners told Al Jazeera that even after release, their struggle is not over, as traumatic memories of their captivity continue to haunt them.

Mohammed al-Bakri, a survivor, was arrested during Israel's military campaign in Gaza in March 2024 and held for about 20 months. He was transferred through several detention centers before ending up in a prison in occupied East Jerusalem. There, he was blindfolded and handcuffed alongside other prisoners for months, cut off from the outside world.

One night in prison, Israeli soldiers stripped him, unleashed dogs, and sexually assaulted him. “First, they cuffed our hands in front. When the rape began, they made us put our hands behind our backs, stripped us, and threw us on the floor,” al-Bakri said. “Dogs were set on us and attacked fiercely. One was very large. Some soldiers also used sexual objects in the attacks.” After his release, al-Bakri learned that his wife had been killed in an Israeli airstrike while he was in prison.

According to prisoner advocacy groups, more than 9,600 Palestinians are detained in Israeli prisons as of last month, compared to about 5,250 before the war — an 83 percent increase. This figure includes 350 children and about 3,530 held in administrative detention without charge.

In another case, Ahmed, 17, whose name is withheld at his family’s request, was detained near an aid distribution point in Rafah, southern Gaza, while trying to get food for his starving family. Instead of returning with flour, Ahmed emerged frightened and traumatized. “Female Israeli soldiers suddenly came and handcuffed us. They stripped us completely and bound our feet with metal,” he said. “I was locked in a very small space, and then eight female soldiers appeared completely naked and began touching sensitive parts of my body. They filmed us and forced us to repeat degrading sexual words.”

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a nonprofit defending human rights, says these accounts are part of a widespread, systematic pattern. In its April report titled “Another Genocide Behind Walls,” the organization documented accounts from former prisoners, describing how male detainees are humiliated in Israeli detention facilities. Maha Hussaini of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor told Al Jazeera that Ahmed and al-Bakri are just two of dozens of cases documented in the report. “We documented seven forms of sexual violence, including rape and threats of rape,” Hussaini said.

Kifaya Khraim of the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling in Ramallah told Al Jazeera that allegations of torture and sexual violence in Israeli prisons are “very prevalent.” After interviewing 75 women detained in separate centers and police stations in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Jerusalem, all reported sexual violence, including rape, sexual torture, humiliation, or degradation. “It is systematic. It’s not isolated incidents. It’s not a lone wolf doing it,” Khraim said, adding that Palestinian women and men are victims, while both male and female Israeli guards and soldiers are accused of perpetrating the violence.