Palestinians tell BBC they were sexually abused in Israeli prisons

This text comprises descriptions of sexual abuse and violence which some readers could discover distressing.

Two Palestinian males have advised the BBC they personally skilled the type of beatings and sexual abuse highlighted in current stories into the remedy of prisoners in Israeli detention.

The United Nations Committee towards Torture mentioned final month that it was deeply involved about stories indicating “a de facto state coverage of organised and widespread torture and in poor health remedy” of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails. It mentioned the allegations had “gravely intensified” after the Hamas-led assaults on Israel on 7 October 2023.

Different stories by Israeli and Palestinian rights teams have detailed what they are saying is “systematic” abuse.

Israel has denied all of the allegations, however rights teams say the fury within the nation over the 7 October assaults and the remedy of Israeli hostages in Gaza has created a tradition of impunity throughout the jail companies, particularly in direction of detainees who’ve expressed assist for Hamas and its assaults.

Final 12 months, leaked CCTV footage from inside an Israeli navy jail confirmed a Palestinian man from Gaza allegedly being sexually abused by jail guards. That led to a resignation and recriminations on the high of Israel’s navy and political institution.

Sami al-Saei, 46, now works in a furnishings store, however he was a contract journalist within the city of Tulkarm, within the north of the occupied West Financial institution.

He was arrested by Israeli troopers in January 2024 after working with reporters to rearrange interviews with members of Hamas and different armed teams.

He was detained with out being charged for 16 months, below a controversial Israeli system generally known as administrative detention, earlier than being launched this summer season.

Whereas he was being held in Megiddo jail in northern Israel, he mentioned, the guards partially stripped him and raped him with a baton on or round 13 March 2024.

He mentioned he had determined to talk to the BBC about his allegations of sexual abuse, regardless of the danger of being ostracised within the usually conservative Palestinian society within the West Financial institution.

“There have been 5 or 6 of them,” he mentioned.

“They had been laughing and having fun with it. The guard requested me: ‘Are you having fun with this? We wish to play with you, and produce your spouse, your sister, your mom, and mates right here too,'” Mr al-Saei continued.

“I hoped to die and be achieved from that, because the ache was not solely attributable to the rape, but in addition from the extreme and painful beating.”

He mentioned the assault lasted round 15 to twenty minutes, throughout which period the guards additionally squeezed his genitals, inflicting excessive ache.

He mentioned the beatings occurred on an virtually each day foundation, however he was solely sexually abused as soon as.

The BBC requested the Israel Jail Service (IPS) for a response to Mr al-Saei’s allegations. It despatched an announcement, which mentioned: “We function in full accordance with the legislation, whereas guaranteeing the protection, welfare, and rights of all inmates below its custody.

“We aren’t conscious of the claims described, and to the most effective of our data, no such incidents have occurred below IPS duty.”

We additionally requested the IPS whether or not an investigation had been launched into the alleged sexual assault and whether or not any medical data existed. It didn’t remark.

Allegations of abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons have been made for many years, however one current case has shaken the nation’s institution and deepened a rising divide in Israeli society over the remedy of prisoners and detainees accused of supporting Hamas.

In August 2024, leaked CCTV from inside Sde Teiman navy jail in southern Israel confirmed a Palestinian detainee from Gaza allegedly being abused with a pointy object by troopers, leaving the person with a pierced rectum. The assault allegedly occurred in July 2024.

5 Israeli reservist troopers had been charged with aggravated abuse and inflicting critical bodily hurt to the detainee.

Final month, they convened a press convention on Israeli tv, 4 of them showing in black balaclavas to cover their identities.

In an interview with Channel 14 Information, a fifth soldier pulled off his masks to disclose his face, saying he had nothing to cover.

All 5 have denied the costs.

The reservists held the press convention after it emerged that the CCTV footage was leaked by the Israeli navy’s high lawyer, Army Advocate Basic Main Basic Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi.

She resigned in October, saying that she took full duty for the leak. She defined that she had wished to “counter false propaganda towards the military’s legislation enforcement authorities” – a reference to claims from some right-wing politicians that the allegations had been fabricated.

Supporters of the far proper have held protests in assist of the 5 accused reservists outdoors Sde Teiman jail.

In July, earlier than her resignation, at a fiery committee listening to at Israel’s parliament, Hanoch Milwidsky, a politician from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud get together, was challenged over whether or not raping a detainee was acceptable.

“Shut up, shut up,” he shouted. “Sure, all the pieces is reliable if they’re Nukhba [elite Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attacks]. Every thing.”

A current opinion ballot by the broadly revered Israel Democracy Institute indicated that almost all of the Israeli public oppose investigating troopers when they’re suspected of getting abused Palestinians from Gaza.

Ahmed, not his actual title, lives within the West Financial institution along with his spouse and 11 kids.

He was arrested by troopers in January 2024 and was discovered responsible of incitement to terrorism, after making social media posts praising the 7 October Hamas-led assaults, by which round 1,200 individuals, principally Israelis, had been killed and an additional 251 had been taken hostage.

He was sentenced to at least one 12 months in jail and fined 3,000 shekels ($935, £700).

He alleges critical sexual abuse whereas in Israeli detention.

“The jail guards, three of them, took me into a rest room and stripped me fully bare earlier than forcing me to the bottom,” Ahmed mentioned in an interview at his house.

“They put my head in the bathroom bowl and a large man, perhaps 150kg (330lb), stood on my head, so I used to be bent over. Then, I heard the voice of somebody speaking to the jail canine. The canine was named Messi, just like the footballer.”

He then detailed how he mentioned the canine was used to sexually humiliate him. He mentioned his trousers and underwear had been eliminated and the canine mounted his again.

“I might really feel its breath… then it jumped on me… I began to scream. The extra I screamed, the extra they beat me till I virtually misplaced consciousness.”

Throughout his time in detention, Ahmed additionally mentioned the guards would beat him regularly, together with on his genitals.

He mentioned he was launched 12 days after the alleged sexual abuse, after serving his full sentence.

We requested Ahmed if there have been any medical paperwork relating to his claims, however he mentioned he didn’t have any.

We contacted the IPS to ask for a response to Ahmed’s allegations, and if an investigation had been launched into his alleged abuse, however we didn’t obtain a reply.

There are over 9,000 Palestinian safety detainees held in Israeli jails, almost double the quantity earlier than the 7 October assaults. Many have by no means been charged.

The current report by the UN Committee towards Torture unequivocally condemned the 7 October assaults, and in addition expressed deep concern over Israel’s response and the large lack of human life in Gaza.

Among the hostages kidnapped on 7 October and survivors of the assaults have additionally made allegations of sexual abuse, rape and torture by Hamas and its allies.

Hamas has additionally publicly executed Palestinians in Gaza accused of collaborating with Israel.

There are additionally claims of abuse inside prisons run by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is in cost in elements of the West Financial institution not below Israeli management and is a political and navy rival of Hamas.

The BBC has spoken to a former detainee who mentioned PA safety officers beat him and used electrical shocks on him.

The BBC has contacted the PA for remark however obtained no reply. It has beforehand denied allegations of systematic abuse.

In a report submitted in October to the UN Committee towards Torture, 5 Israeli human rights teams mentioned there had been “a dramatic escalation in torture and merciless, inhuman and degrading remedy throughout all detention services, carried out with close to complete impunity and carried out as state coverage focusing on Palestinians”.

Adalah, the Public Committee In opposition to Torture in Israel, Dad and mom In opposition to Little one Detention, HaMoked, and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel offered proof that they mentioned confirmed Israel had “dismantled present safeguards and now employs torture all through the whole detention course of – from arrest to imprisonment – focusing on Palestinians below occupation and Palestinian residents, with senior officers sanctioning these abuses whereas judicial and administrative mechanisms fail to intervene”.

The report mentioned such practices had resulted in a surge of Palestinian deaths in custody, with a minimum of 94 deaths in Israeli custody documented between the beginning of the Gaza warfare and the tip of August 2025.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva rejected the allegations made earlier than the UN Committee towards Torture as “disinformation”.

Daniel Meron advised the knowledgeable panel final month that Israel was “dedicated to upholding its obligations according to our ethical values and rules, even within the face of the challenges posed by a terrorist organisation”.

He mentioned the related Israeli companies complied totally with the prohibition towards torture and that Israel rejected allegations of systematic use of sexual and gender-based violence.