Palestinians sexually abused in Israeli prisons
Sami al-Saei says he was sexually assaulted by prison guards while held for months without charge.
This report contains descriptions of sexual violence and physical abuse that may be distressing to some readers.
Two Palestinian men have told the revealed that they personally endured beatings and sexual abuse while held in Israeli detention facilities, echoing a series of recent reports that accuse Israeli prison authorities of widespread mistreatment of detainees.
Last month, the United Nations Committee against Torture said it was deeply troubled by what it described as mounting evidence of organised and systematic torture and ill treatment of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The committee noted that allegations had intensified sharply following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations have since published reports outlining what they say is a pattern of abuse that goes beyond isolated misconduct. Israel has firmly denied these allegations. However, rights advocates argue that public fury over the 7 October attacks, combined with anger over the treatment of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, has fostered a climate of impunity within parts of the prison system—particularly toward detainees suspected of sympathising with Hamas.
Concerns escalated last year after leaked CCTV footage from inside an Israeli military prison appeared to show a Palestinian detainee from Gaza being sexually abused by guards. The footage triggered resignations, internal investigations, and political recriminations at the highest levels of Israel’s military and legal establishment.
“I Was Hoping to Die”: One Man’s Account
Sami al-Saei, 46, now earns a living working in a furniture shop. Before his arrest, he was a freelance journalist based in Tulkarm, in the northern occupied West Bank.
In January 2024, Israeli soldiers detained him after he helped foreign reporters arrange interviews with members of Hamas and other armed factions. He was never formally charged. Instead, he was held for 16 months under Israel’s controversial system of administrative detention, which allows imprisonment without trial based on secret evidence.
Al-Saei says that while he was held in Megiddo prison in northern Israel, guards subjected him to extreme violence. On or around 13 March 2024, he alleges, several guards partially stripped him and raped him with a baton.
“There were five or six of them,” he said. “They were laughing. They were enjoying it.”
He recalled guards taunting him during the assault, threatening to bring his wife, sister, and mother into the prison. The ordeal, he said, lasted between 15 and 20 minutes. During that time, guards allegedly beat him and squeezed his genitals, causing excruciating pain.
“I was hoping to die and be done with it,” he said. “The pain wasn’t only from the rape. It was from the beating too.”
Al-Saei said physical assaults were routine—almost daily—but the sexual assault happened only once. He revealed he decided to speak publicly despite fears of social stigma in the conservative Palestinian society of the West Bank.
Official Denials and Silence
The BBC put Al-Saei’s allegations to the Israel Prison Service (IPS). In a written response, the IPS said it operates “in full accordance with the law” and is committed to ensuring the safety and rights of all inmates.
“We are not aware of the claims described,” the statement said. “To the best of our knowledge, no such incidents have occurred under IPS responsibility.”
The IPS declined to say whether an investigation had been launched or whether medical records existed related to the alleged assault.
A Case That Shook Israel
Allegations of abuse in Israeli prisons are not new. But one case in 2024 profoundly unsettled the country’s political and military establishment and deepened internal divisions over how detainees accused of supporting Hamas should be treated.
In August 2024, leaked CCTV footage from Sde Teiman military prison in southern Israel appeared to show soldiers abusing a Palestinian detainee from Gaza with a sharp object, leaving him with a perforated rectum. The incident allegedly took place the previous month.
Five Israeli reservist soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm. All have denied the accusations.
Last month, the reservists held a televised press conference. Four appeared wearing black balaclavas to conceal their identities. A fifth removed his mask during an interview with Channel 14 News, saying he had “nothing to hide”.
The controversy intensified when it emerged that the footage had been leaked by Israel’s top military lawyer, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the Military Advocate General. She resigned in October, saying she took full responsibility for the leak and insisting she acted to counter what she described as misinformation and political pressure.
Supporters from Israel’s far right later staged protests outside Sde Teiman prison in defence of the accused soldiers.
During a heated parliamentary committee session earlier that year, Likud lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky sparked outrage when he appeared to justify the rape of detainees accused of being elite Hamas fighters.
“Yes, everything is legitimate,” he shouted. “Everything.”
A subsequent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute suggested that a majority of Israelis oppose criminal investigations into soldiers suspected of abusing Palestinian detainees from Gaza.
Another Voice, Another Claim
A second Palestinian man, identified here as Ahmed to protect his identity, also alleges he was sexually abused in Israeli custody.
Ahmed lives in the West Bank with his wife and 11 children. He was arrested in January 2024 after posting messages on social media praising the 7 October Hamas-led attacks, in which around 1,200 people—mostly Israelis—were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Convicted of incitement to terrorism, he was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 3,000 shekels ($935; £700).
Ahmed says that while in detention, guards subjected him to humiliating and violent abuse.
“Three of them took me into a bathroom,” he said. “They stripped me completely naked and forced me to the ground.”
He alleges that guards pushed his head into a toilet bowl while a large man stood on his head, bending him over. He then heard someone speaking to a prison dog.
“The dog was named Messi,” he said, referring to the footballer Lionel Messi.
Ahmed claims the dog was used to sexually humiliate him. He said his trousers and underwear were removed and the animal mounted him.
“I could feel its breath,” he said. “Then it jumped on me. I screamed. The more I screamed, the more they beat me, until I nearly lost consciousness.”
He said beatings, including blows to his genitals, were frequent during his imprisonment. Ahmed was released 12 days after the alleged sexual abuse, having completed his sentence.
He said he had no medical records documenting his injuries. The IPS did not respond to questions about his allegations or whether an investigation had been opened.
Broader Context and Competing Allegations
More than 9,000 Palestinian security detainees are currently held in Israeli prisons—nearly double the number before 7 October 2023. Many are detained without charge.
The UN Committee against Torture unequivocally condemned the 7 October attacks while also expressing grave concern about Israel’s response and the scale of civilian deaths in Gaza.
Israeli hostages and survivors of the attacks have also accused Hamas and allied groups of rape, sexual abuse, and torture. Hamas has publicly executed Palestinians in Gaza accused of collaborating with Israel.
Abuse allegations are not confined to Israeli facilities. A former detainee who said security forces of the Palestinian Authority beat him and used electric shocks while he was held in the West Bank. The PA has previously denied claims of systematic abuse and did not respond to requests for comment.
Human Rights Groups Sound the Alarm
In a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture in October, five Israeli human rights organisations warned of what they described as a dramatic escalation in torture and degrading treatment across all Israeli detention facilities.
The groups—Adalah, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Parents Against Child Detention, HaMoked, and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel—said safeguards had been dismantled and that torture was now employed throughout the detention process, from arrest to incarceration.
They documented at least 94 Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody between the start of the Gaza war and the end of August 2025.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva rejected the allegations as disinformation. Addressing the committee, Daniel Meron said Israel remained committed to its legal and moral obligations, even while confronting terrorism.
He insisted Israeli agencies fully comply with the prohibition on torture and categorically denied the systematic use of sexual or gender-based violence.