Palestinians report sexual violence in prisons

“New York Times” research

Palestinians report serious sexual violence in detention

Human rights activists have long been reporting on mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners. Research is now documenting detailed allegations.

Note: This text contains detailed descriptions of sexual violence.

An investigation by the New York Times accuses Israeli soldiers, settlers, security officials and especially prison guards of systematic sexual violence against Palestinians. The author draws on interviews with 14 men and women who report various types of assaults in Israeli custody.

This includes rape with objects, forced nudity, sexual humiliation and other forms of abuse. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described similar allegations in the past as “baseless accusations.”

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One of the cases concerns the Palestinian journalist Sami Al-Sai. The 46-year-old reports that after his arrest in 2024, he was thrown to the ground and beaten by several guards on the way to a prison cell. One stepped on his head and neck, others pulled down his pants and underwear. A guard then brought out a rubber baton.

“They tried to insert it into my anus and I resisted, but I couldn’t stop it,” Al-Sai told the New York Times. “It hurt so much.” The guards laughed at him. “Then I heard someone say, ‘Give me the carrots,'” he remembers. Then they would have used a carrot. “It was extremely painful,” he said. “I prayed for death.”

Many men reported having their genitals pulled or their testicles hit. Hand-held metal detectors were passed between men’s bare legs and then struck against their genitals. According to the NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, some men had to have their testicles amputated after such abuse. Those affected also describe that attacks were sometimes filmed or accompanied by threats in order to intimidate them or pressure them to cooperate with Israeli authorities.

Israel’s Ministry of National Security declined to comment in the New York Times. The prison authorities “categorically” rejected the allegations of sexual violence. Complaints are examined by the relevant authorities, said a spokesman who did not want to be named. Nicolas Kristof, the author of the research, emphasizes that there is no evidence that Israeli leaders order rape.

Last year, a UN report found that sexual violence had become a “standard procedure” in Israel and an “essential component of the mistreatment of Palestinians.” A report released last month by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor concluded that Israel uses “systematic sexual violence” that is “practiced largely as part of an organized state policy.”