Gaza Herald_The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has documented one of the most heinous crimes in the modern era, targeting human dignity and the fundamental rights of Palestinians.
In recent weeks, PCHR staff collected fresh testimonies from Palestinian detainees recently released from Israeli prisons and detention camps. These accounts reveal organized, systematic sexual torture, including rape, forced stripping, sexual assault with objects and dogs, forced filming, and deliberate psychological humiliation designed to crush human dignity and erase individual identity entirely.
PCHR confirms that these accounts do not represent isolated incidents but reflect a broader, systematic policy carried out in the context of an ongoing genocide against over two million Palestinians in Gaza, including thousands of detainees held in prisons and military camps closed to international oversight, including the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Arbitrary Arrests and Targeted Punishment
Lawyers and field researchers from PCHR documented testimonies from victims arrested across Gaza. These individuals reveal that arrests were conducted without legal justification, targeting residents simply for living in Gaza. The practice forms part of Israel’s broader policy of collective punishment, designed to humiliate Palestinians and inflict maximum psychological and physical suffering.
Among the documented cases is N.A., a 42-year-old mother, arrested at a checkpoint in northern Gaza in November 2024. She reported repeated sexual violence, including multiple rapes, beatings, electroshock, forced filming, and continuous humiliation:
“At dawn I heard the soldiers shouting that morning prayers were forbidden. They moved me blindfolded to a place I didn’t know. I was ordered to strip, placed on a metal table, and repeatedly raped, beaten, and humiliated while blindfolded. They filmed me. I was left naked for hours. Over three days, I was raped multiple times each day. One masked soldier, who said he was Russian, forced me to masturbate him after raping me. My period began while I was held naked and humiliated. They threatened to post my photos online and continued to torment me.”
Male Victims of Sexual Torture
PCHR also documented cases of male detainees subjected to sexual torture. A.A., a 35-year-old father, arrested at Al-Shifa Hospital in March 2024, described 19 months of brutal detention, including forced stripping, verbal abuse, threats against family members, and rape by a dog inside Sde Teiman military camp:
“We were stripped completely and assaulted. Dogs were used to violate us while soldiers beat us and sprayed pepper spray. I suffered severe psychological trauma, fractures, bruises, and injuries stitched without anesthesia. The humiliation and torture were beyond imagination.”
Similarly, T.Q., 41, arrested at Kamal Adwan Hospital in December 2023, endured 22 months of sexual torture, including threats against his wife and rape with a wooden object:
“A soldier violently inserted a wooden stick into my anus repeatedly. I screamed; they forced me to put it in my mouth. I lost consciousness from anguish. A female officer finally stopped the beating and gave me water, but I was blindfolded and tied again shortly after.”
Even minors are subjected to sexual violence. M.A., 18, re-arrested near a humanitarian aid point in 2025, was raped with a bottle multiple times and forced to witness assaults on others. He described the torment as physically and psychologically devastating, leaving him traumatized and hopeless about his future.
Legal Implications and Genocidal Policies
In May 2025, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) released a detailed report based on testimonies from one hundred Palestinians who were recently released from Israeli detention. Their accounts describe severe torture, continuous humiliation, and inhumane living conditions inside Israeli facilities. According to the report, the treatment inflicted by the Israeli Occupation Forces, intelligence agencies, and the Israel Prison Service fully meets the definition of torture under international law and rises to the level of genocide. The report explains that Palestinians were subjected to serious physical and psychological harm, and that Israeli authorities deliberately imposed living conditions designed to bring about the physical destruction of the group, whether in whole or in part.
International Action Urgently Needed
PCHR calls on the international community, including States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture and the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, the UN Secretary-General, UN Special Procedures, and all relevant human rights and humanitarian institutions, to take immediate action to end Israel’s systematic policy of torture and enforced disappearance. The organization stresses that urgent steps are required to pressure Israel to release all Palestinians who are being arbitrarily detained, to reveal the fate and whereabouts of every person who has been forcibly disappeared, and to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross full and unrestricted access to all detention facilities. These measures, PCHR emphasizes, are essential to halt ongoing violations, protect detainees from further harm, and ensure accountability for crimes committed against Palestinians.
Threat of Mass Executions
Thousands of detainees face the risk of death. On November 3, 2025, the Knesset’s National Security Committee approved a draft law allowing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners. Many detainees have provided coerced confessions under brutal torture, meaning the law could be applied arbitrarily, leading to mass executions in clear violation of international humanitarian law.
Protection and Support for Survivors
PCHR urges international, Palestinian, and local authorities to provide immediate protection and comprehensive psychological and medical care for survivors. The confidentiality and safety of victims must be guaranteed.
Commitment to Justice
PCHR remains committed to documenting these crimes, collecting evidence and testimonies, and submitting them to UN mechanisms, the International Criminal Court, and other accountability bodies. The organization seeks justice for victims, accountability for perpetrators, and an end to impunity for crimes committed against Palestinian detainees.
