Sexual abuse by Israel

THE harrowing details of the widespread torture and sexual violence inflicted on Palestinian prisoners — men, women and children — by Israeli forces, as chronicled by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, are a damning indictment of the so-called civilised world that looks the other way when war crimes are committed by the Zionist state. Kristof’s account, published last week, is based on interviews with a number of Palestinians who have experienced sexual violence at the hands of “soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards”.

Among the victims interviewed was freelance journalist Sami al-Sai, 46, who was detained by Israeli authorities in 2024. The description of his experience in prison is as horrific as that of countless other Palestinian men and women who have endured brutal acts of sexual violence. The journalist linked his abuse to pressure from the Israeli authorities to turn informer. Pride in his profession kept him from yielding to their demand. Many others in his place would have succumbed to the pressure.

A number of these stories are so harrowing that they cannot be repeated here. Thousands of Palestinian men, women and children are languishing in Israeli prisons in subhuman conditions, with many routinely subjected to sexual abuse.

Often, upon being released, the prisoners are warned by the Israeli authorities to stay quiet or face the consequences. The other reason they prefer silence is because “Arab society discourages discussing the topic for fear of hurting the morale of prisoners’ families and undermining the Palestinian narrative of defiant and heroic detainees”. Conservative norms also inhibit discussion on the subject. Survivors worry that speaking openly will ruin the matrimonial prospects of their sisters and daughters.

Western leaders have turned a blind eye to Israel’s crimes against humanity.

This is not the first time reports have surfaced regarding Israel’s consistent use of sexual violence against the Palestinian population. And yet, nothing seems to shake Western leaders who continue to lecture the world on human rights while turning a blind eye to Israel’s atrocities. There has been a marked increase in such crimes with Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in Gaza aided and abetted by the US and others in the Western sphere.

In a report issued in March 2025, the UN detailed how sexual and gender-based violence — including rape and brutal assaults by prison guards and soldiers — is systematically employed by Israel as a tool of war and a way to humiliate and intimidate Palestinians. These abuses are not isolated incidents but rather “standard operating procedures” and a significant aspect of the mistreatment of Palestinians.

The Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has extensively reported on how Israel employs “systematic sexual violence” as part of organised state policy. The report titled Another Genocide Behind Walls: Sexual Violence in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centresand Engineered Impunity (October 2023-October 2025) details the horrible conditions that prevail inside Israeli prisons.

Post-Oct 7, 2023, “Israeli forces have conducted sweeping and arbitrary arrests of thousands of Palestinians, including healthcare workers, journalists, women and children,” the Monitor notes. With Israel attempting to conceal conditions in its prisons by blocking visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross and lawyers, the report is based on released detainees’ direct testimonies. The findings “are supported by rare testimonies from Israeli whistleblowers, including doctors and soldiers, who have admitted to serious medical violations”. Medical reports indicate severe injuries and bodies returned to Gaza have shown signs of torture. Many former detainees don’t want to testify “due to fears of security reprisals” that include the targeting of their families.

According to the Monitor, prisoners and detainees are trapped in “physical and legal black holes”. In the detention and interrogation centres, they encounter conditions described as resembling “state-run torture camps, where they face severe violations that include systematic sexual violence as a means of subjugation and destruction”. Cases are mentioned “where victims experienced severe psychological breakdowns while trying to speak out, with some breaking down into crying fits” as they relived their trauma.

“Deliberate and medical neglect” often accompany the abuse. The report categorises them “as war crimes and crimes against humanity” which are “central to ongoing genocide”. These atrocities are ‘legitimised’ through “a complex system of laws, military directives and emergency regulations, including activating the ‘Unlawful Combatants Law’ and broadening detention powers without judicial oversight”.

This year, Israel’s parliament celebrated after passing a draconian bill that mandates military courts in occupied West Bank to sentence Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis in so-called ‘terror’ acts to death. The move is not only discriminatory against Palestinians but also contravenes international law, as Israel can’t legislate for territories that are not a part of it. Such actions can be viewed as war crimes.

In 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza post Oct 7, 2023. Despite this, no significant action has been taken. This inaction reflects the complicity of Western nations and Arab countries, whose silence gives Israel a sense of impunity.

It is particularly ironic that many Arab nations, as well as Pakistan, are engaging with a war criminal responsible for the ongoing genocidal conflict in Gaza through the Board of Peace, led by US President Donald Trump, which claims to be focused on the ‘rehabilitation’ of Gaza. Reports from the NYT, the UN and international human rights organisations detail only a fraction of Israel’s crimes against humanity. But they should be enough to galvanise the international community.

The writer is an author and journalist.

zhussain100@yahoo.com

X: @hidhussain

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2026