The Ofer military prison of the Zionist entity, near Ramallah, occupied West Bank. Photo: AP.
The UN has documented dozens of cases of torture, rape, and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees by Israeli prison guards and interrogators, Israeli media Haaretz reported on May 29, citing a new report issued by the office of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“Violations consisted of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape,” the report stated.
The UN identified 31 victims from the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including 14 men, seven women, nine boys, and one girl.
According to the report viewed by Haaretz and other western media outlets, Israeli prison personnel subjected nine victims to rape and gang rape, in some cases repeatedly.
In most cases, the torture and sexual violence were carried out during the interrogation of Palestinians at military camps and detention centers, such as the Sde Teiman base and the Etzion detention center, as well as in Israeli prisons, including Megiddo, Ofer, Ramla, HaSharon, Shatta, Nafha, and Damon, and the Gush Etzion police station.
At other times, Israeli security forces tortured Palestinians at checkpoints and during military operations in the occupied West Bank.
The report says that some instances of abuse were filmed or photographed by the Israeli perpetrators, including when one victim was raped.
Female detainees were subjected to threats of rape, forced nudity, unwanted physical contact, and humiliating strip searches carried out without apparent security justification.
Men and boys were subjected to rape or attempted rape, including five male victims who suffered “severe rectal bleeding or swelling for multiple days or weeks and, in some cases, without receiving medical treatment.”
Secretary-General Guterres urged the Israeli government to “immediately cease all acts of sexual violence” and implement reforms to prevent abuse moving forward.
Israel has claimed—without evidence—that members of Hamas participating in the 7 October 2023 attack on Israeli military bases and settlements carried out mass rapes against Israeli women. However, the new UN report stated that it had not received information from Israel on any indictments involving sexual violence against Palestinians detained over their alleged role in the attack.
Meanwhile, an hour-long documentary aired on Israeli television this week, revealing that Israelis living in the Gush Etzion settlement south of Jerusalem admitted that their Jewish religious leaders have for decades gang-raped local children and filmed the acts to create child pornography.
The television report, “No longer in denial: Gush Etzion admits to ritual abuse,” revealed that the rapes were carried out as part of a religious ritual.
