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Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual violence and abuse that some readers may find distressing.
Detainees recount sexual abuse and beatings
Two Palestinian men have come forward with accounts of sexual violence and torture during their detention in Israeli prisons, echoing recent reports of widespread abuse. Sami al-Saei, a former journalist from Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, described being raped with a baton by prison guards at Megiddo prison in March 2024. He said the assault lasted 15 to 20 minutes, during which guards also squeezed his genitals and taunted him with threats against his family.
"There were five or six of them. 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.'"
Sami al-Saei, former detainee
Al-Saei, 46, was held for 16 months under Israel's administrative detention system without charge before his release this summer. He said beatings were a daily occurrence, though sexual abuse happened once. The Israel Prison Service (IPS) denied the allegations, stating it operates "in full accordance with the law" and was unaware of such incidents.
Second detainee details assault involving prison dog
Ahmed, a pseudonym for a West Bank resident with 11 children, was sentenced to one year in prison for incitement to terrorism after posting support for the 7 October Hamas-led attacks. He alleged that three guards stripped him naked in a bathroom, forced his head into a toilet bowl, and subjected him to sexual humiliation involving a prison dog named Messi.
"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, former detainee
Ahmed said he was released 12 days after the alleged assault, having served his full sentence. He provided no medical records to support his claims. The IPS did not respond to requests for comment on his allegations.
UN and rights groups warn of systemic abuse
The United Nations Committee against Torture expressed "deep concern" last month over reports of "a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture" in Israeli detention facilities, particularly since the 7 October attacks. Israeli and Palestinian rights groups have documented what they describe as "systematic" abuse, including a surge in deaths in custody-at least 94 Palestinians between October 2023 and August 2025.
A leaked CCTV video from Sde Teiman military prison in August 2024 showed a Gaza detainee allegedly being sexually abused with a sharp object, resulting in a pierced rectum. Five Israeli reservist soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse but denied wrongdoing in a televised press conference, with one removing his mask to declare he had "nothing to hide."
Political divisions and impunity
The case has deepened divisions in Israel, where far-right supporters have protested in defense of the accused soldiers. At a parliamentary hearing in July, Likud lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky shouted down critics, stating, "Yes, everything is legitimate if they are Nukhba [Hamas fighters]. Everything."
A poll by the Israel Democracy Institute found most Israelis oppose investigating soldiers suspected of abusing Palestinian detainees from Gaza. Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, dismissed allegations of systematic abuse as "disinformation," asserting that Israel upholds its moral obligations even amid conflict with "a terrorist organisation."
Broader context of detention and abuse
Over 9,000 Palestinian security detainees are currently held in Israeli jails-nearly double the pre-7 October number-many without charge. The UN committee condemned both the 7 October attacks and Israel's military response in Gaza, which has resulted in significant civilian casualties.
Allegations of abuse extend beyond Israeli facilities. The BBC spoke to a former detainee of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which controls parts of the West Bank, who described beatings and electric shocks. The PA has previously denied systematic abuse. Meanwhile, Hamas has executed Palestinians in Gaza accused of collaborating with Israel, and Israeli hostages and survivors have reported sexual violence by Hamas fighters.
Five Israeli human rights groups-Adalah, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Parents Against Child Detention, HaMoked, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel-submitted a report to the UN in October, accusing Israel of dismantling safeguards and employing torture "as state policy targeting Palestinians."
