Palestinians Tell BBC of Alleged Sexual Abuse in Israeli Prisons

Two Palestinian men have reported to the BBC that they were sexually abused while in Israeli detention. Their accounts align with reports highlighting mistreatment of prisoners in Israeli facilities.

The UN Committee against Torture voiced serious concerns last month about credible reports suggesting a widespread policy of torture and ill-treatment against Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails. The committee noted that these allegations have increased significantly since the October 7, 2023, attacks led by Hamas.

Other reports from Israeli and Palestinian rights organizations have described what they claim is systematic abuse. Israel has denied all allegations of abuse. That said, the reality is a bit more complicated. rights groups contend that the public anger following the October 7 attacks and the treatment of Israeli hostages in Gaza has fostered a culture of impunity within Israeli prison services, especially toward detainees who voiced support for Hamas and its attacks.

Last year, leaked CCTV footage from an Israeli military prison showed a Palestinian man from Gaza allegedly being sexually abused by prison guards, leading to a resignation and condemnation from high-ranking military and political figures in Israel.

Sami al-Saei, 46, a former freelance journalist from Tulkarm in the West Bank, said he was arrested by Israeli soldiers in January 2024 for assisting reporters in arranging interviews with members of Hamas and other armed groups. He was held for 16 months without charges under administrative detention before his release this summer.

Al-Saei alleges that while imprisoned in Megiddo prison in northern Israel, guards partially stripped him and raped him with a baton around March 13, 2024. He told the BBC he is speaking out about the abuse despite the risk of being ostracized in the conservative Palestinian society in the West Bank.

"There were five or six of them," he stated, recounting the alleged assault. "They were laughing and enjoying it. The guard asked me: 'Are you enjoying this? We want to play with you, and bring your wife, your sister, your mother, and friends here too,'" Al-Saei continued. "I was hoping to die and be done from that, as the pain was not only caused by the rape, but also from the severe and painful beating."

He said the assault lasted approximately 15 to 20 minutes, during which the guards also squeezed his genitals, causing extreme pain. He added that beatings occurred almost daily, but he was sexually abused only once.

The BBC requested a response from the Israel Prison Service (IPS) regarding al-Saei's allegations. The IPS stated, "We operate in full accordance with the law, while ensuring the safety, welfare, and rights of all inmates under its custody. We are not aware of the claims described, and to the best of our knowledge, no such incidents have occurred under IPS responsibility."

The BBC also asked the IPS whether an investigation had been launched into the alleged sexual assault and if any medical records existed. The IPS did not comment.

Allegations of abuse against Palestinians in Israeli prisons have persisted for decades. A recent case involving leaked CCTV footage from Sde Teiman military prison in southern Israel showed a Palestinian detainee from Gaza allegedly being abused with a sharp object by soldiers in July 2024. The assault allegedly resulted in a pierced rectum. Five Israeli reservist soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm to the detainee.

The reservists held a press conference on Israeli television last month. Four of them wore black balaclavas to conceal their identities. A fifth soldier removed his mask, stating he had nothing to hide, during an interview with Channel 14 News. All five have denied the charges.

The press conference occurred after the CCTV footage was leaked by Military Advocate General Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the Israeli military's top lawyer. She resigned in October, taking responsibility for the leak, explaining that she wanted to "counter false propaganda against the army's law enforcement authorities," referring to claims from some right-wing politicians that the allegations were fabricated.

Supporters of the far-right have protested outside Sde Teiman prison in support of the five accused reservists. In July, during a committee hearing at Israel's parliament, Hanoch Milwidsky, a politician from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, responded to a challenge about whether raping a detainee was acceptable by shouting, "Shut up, shut up. Yes, everything is legitimate if they are Nukhba [elite Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attacks]. Everything."

A recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute indicated that a majority of the Israeli public opposes investigating soldiers suspected of abusing Palestinians from Gaza.

Another Palestinian, identified as Ahmed to protect his identity, also alleges serious sexual abuse while in Israeli detention. Ahmed, who lives in the West Bank with his wife and 11 children, was arrested in January 2024 and convicted of incitement to terrorism for social media posts praising the October 7 Hamas-led attacks. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 3,000 shekels ($935, £700).

Ahmed said that prison guards took him into a bathroom, stripped him, and forced him to the ground. "They put my head in the toilet bowl and a massive man, maybe 150kg (330lb), stood on my head, so I was bent over. Then, I heard the voice of someone talking to the prison dog. The dog was named Messi, like the footballer."

He described how the dog was then allegedly used to sexually humiliate him. He said his trousers and underwear were removed, and the dog mounted his back. "I could feel its breath... then it jumped on me... I started to scream. The more I screamed, the more they beat me until I almost lost consciousness."

Ahmed also stated that guards regularly beat him, including on his genitals, during his detention. He said he was released 12 days after the alleged sexual abuse, after serving his full sentence. Ahmed said he did not have any medical documents regarding his claims.

The BBC contacted the IPS for a response to Ahmed's allegations and to inquire whether an investigation had been launched, but did not receive a reply.

There are over 9,000 Palestinian security detainees currently held in Israeli jails, nearly double the number before the October 7 attacks. Many have never been formally charged.

The UN Committee against Torture report condemned the October 7 attacks and expressed deep concern over Israel's response and the significant loss of life in Gaza. Some hostages abducted on October 7 and survivors of the attacks have also alleged sexual abuse, rape, and torture by Hamas and its allies.

Hamas has also publicly executed Palestinians in Gaza accused of collaborating with Israel. Claims of abuse have also surfaced within prisons run by the Palestinian Authority (PA), a political and military rival of Hamas that governs parts of the West Bank not under Israeli control.

The BBC spoke to a former detainee who said PA security officers beat him and used electric shocks on him. The BBC contacted the PA for comment but received no reply. The PA has previously denied allegations of systematic abuse.

In a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture in October, five Israeli human rights groups stated that there had been "a dramatic escalation in torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment across all detention facilities, carried out with near total impunity and implemented as state policy targeting Palestinians." These groups – Adalah, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Parents Against Child Detention, HaMoked, and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel – presented evidence that they said showed Israel had "dismantled existing safeguards and now employs torture throughout the entire detention process - from arrest to imprisonment - targeting Palestinians under occupation and Palestinian citizens, with senior officials sanctioning these abuses while judicial and administrative mechanisms fail to intervene."

The report claimed that these practices had led to a surge in Palestinian deaths in custody, with at least 94 deaths documented between the start of the Gaza war and the end of August 2025.

Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, dismissed the allegations made before the UN Committee against Torture as "disinformation." He told the panel that Israel was "committed to upholding its obligations in line with our moral values and principles, even in the face of the challenges posed by a terrorist organisation" and rejected allegations of systematic use of sexual and gender-based violence, adding that relevant Israeli agencies fully complied with the prohibition against torture.