Sexual And Gender-based Violence Against Palestinians During The Israel–Hamas War

During the 2023–24 Israel–Hamas war, Israeli male and female soldiers, guards as well as medical staff have reportedly committed wartime sexual violence against Palestinians children, women and men; including rape, gang-rape, sexualized torture and mutilation. In February UN experts cited at least two cases of Palestinian women being raped by male Israeli soldiers. Palestinian boys and men have also been raped and subjected to torture, and in some cases the torture has led to the victim's death.

In its legally mandated June 2024 investigative report, the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (CoI) concluded: "The frequency, prevalence and severity of sexual and gender-based crimes perpetrated against Palestinians since 7 October across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) indicate that specific forms of Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are part of Israeli Security Forces (ISF) operating procedures."

In August 2024 Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem released a report on systematic Israeli abuse, torture, sexual violence and rape of Palestinian detainees, calling the Israeli prison system a "network of torture camps". The report includes extensive testimonies from Palestinians. The Guardian also interviewed Palestinian detainees, and reported they "back up hereport by rights group B’Tselem, which says jails should now be labelled ‘torture camps’."

Sexual abuse prior to 7 October

Claims of torture, ill-treatment, and sexual violence against detained Palestinians by Israel, have been made before the 7 October attacks and invasion of Gaza, with documentation recorded by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and Amnesty International. There have been extensive reports of sexual violence against both male and female detainees, including imprisoned Lebanese Amal leader Mustafa Dirani who sued Israel. A former US State Department official stated that his office had verified rape claims made by a Palestinian child.

The UN's Commission of Inquiry concludes in its June 2024 report that Israeli sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians precedes October 7 and arises out of the context of the occupation: "SGBV constitutes a major element in the ill-treatment of Palestinians, intended to humiliate the community at large. This violence is intrinsically linked to the wider context of inequality and prolonged occupation, which have provided the conditions and the rationale for gender-based crimes, to further accentuate the subordination of the occupied people. The Commission notes that these crimes must be addressed by tackling their root."

Rape and sexual abuse of girls and women

On 19 February 2024, a group of United Nations special rapporteurs released a report stating "rights experts call for probe into violations against Palestinian women and girls." According to the report, there is evidence that during the Israel–Hamas war, Palestinian women and girls were subjected to wartime sexual violence. According to these reports, Palestinian women and girls were also subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by the IDF, such as they were denied menstruation pads, food and medicine, and were severely beaten, raped, assaulted, threatened with rape and sexual violence, and subjected to multiple forms of other sexual assaults. Palestinian women and girls were also stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. OHCHR stated that Israeli troops had photographed female detainees in “degrading circumstances” and that the photos had been uploaded online.

The UN report states, "Palestinian women and girls in detention have also been subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. At least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped". One of the special rapporteurs; Reem Alsalem, cautioned that the reservation in reporting sexual violence was common due to reprisal concerns. Alsalem stated that since the 7 October attacks, women and girls in Israeli detention had faced an increasingly permissive attitude by Israeli officials towards sexual assault. According to Middle East Eye the phrase "at least" highlighted the fact that many occurrences remain unrecorded, as victims dread the stigma and repercussions associated with speaking out about sexual abuse in "a patriarchal society reluctant to address such atrocities".

The special rapporteurs have also raised concerns over a number of Palestinian women and children going missing, with reports of children being separated from their parents. In one instance a female infant was reportedly forcibly moved to Israel by the IDF. In response to the report, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said, "Civilians and detainees must be treated humanely, and in accordance with international humanitarian law." Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also described the sexual humiliation of detainees, including sexual insults and urination on prisoners.

The Associated Press in March 2024 reported on Palestinian women claiming to have been abused during their detention by Israel, one woman said that Israeli soldiers conducted strip searches, and during the detention, if "we raised our heads or uttered any words, they beat us on the head ..Loud music, shouting and intimidation — they wanted to humiliate us. We were handcuffed, blindfolded, and our feet were tied in chains"; another woman alleged that an Israeli soldier smashed her face into a wall when she would not kiss the flag of Israel.

A detailed and legally mandated June 2024 investigative report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory stated both Israel and Hamas had committed sexual violence and torture, along with intentional attacks on civilians. Regarding Israeli actions against Palestinians, the report concludes that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is deployed by Israeli forces and civilians against Palestinian women and men, throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. The report concludes that: "The frequency, prevalence and severity of sexual and gender-based crimes perpetrated against Palestinians since 7 October across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) indicate that specific forms of Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are part of Israeli Security Forces (ISF) operating procedures."

The Commission's report was completed through the use of interviewing victims and witnesses along with a variety of other means, and Israel had previously announced its refusal to cooperate. The report indicates that sexual violence was used by the IDF to push the idea of "the subordination of an occupied people" in both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Sexual abuse, rape and sexualized torture of boys and men

The UN CoI report from June 2024 notes that "Men and boys experienced specific persecutory acts, including sexual and gender-based violence amounting to torture and inhuman and cruel treatment."

Many detained victims by IDF forces were allegedly interrogated or abused while either naked or partially dressed, while blindfolded and made to kneel or had their hands tied behind their backs. Others were forced to strip in public and walk while being sexually harassed, at times in front of their family members who were forced to watch. While both genders were forced to do this, men and boys were reportedly targeted specifically. In June 2024, men detained at the Sde Teiman detention camp stated Israeli forces had inserted "hot metal sticks" and "electric sticks" into their rectums, resulting in the death of at least one man.

In June 2024, a Palestinian prisoner released from the Sde Teiman detention camp gave testimony that prisoners were raped by dogs.

In July 2024, Mohammed Arab, a journalist who was arrested in March while covering the Israeli siege of Al-Shifa Hospital, testified to his lawyer Khaled Mahajneh that he had witnessed systematic use of rape, sexual violence, torture and killing in the detention camp. One detainee "was completely stripped and electrocuted, his genitals were yanked". Arab also testified that Israeli guards sexually assaulted six prisoners with a stick in front of other detainees. As Mahajneh recounted: “When he talked about rapes, I asked him, ‘Muhammad, you’re a journalist, are you sure about this?’”...“But he said he saw it with his own eyes, and that what he was telling me was only a small part of what was happening there.”

In early August, Ibrahim Salem, who appeared in one of the first leaked photos from Sde Teiman, was released after being held there for 52 days without charge. He reported widespread torture, including by medical staff, as well as electrocution during interrogations, sexual abuse, constant beatings, forced stripping, genital grabbing, and frequent occurrences of rape committed by both male and female soldiers. Children were also subjected to rape. In one instance, a prisoner in his 40s was handcuffed and forced to bend over a desk while a female soldier inserted her fingers and other objects into his rectum. If the prisoner moved, a male soldier positioned in front of him would beat him and compel him to remain in that position. According to Salem, "Most of the prisoners will come out with rectal injuries aused by the sexual assault"

On 5 August 2024, B'Tselem released a report on systematic Israeli abuse, torture, sexual violence and rape of Palestinian detainees: "Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps". The report includes extensive testimonies from Palestinians. The Guardian also interviewed Palestinian detainees, and reported they "back up hereport by rights group B’Tselem, which says jails should now be labelled ‘torture camps’."

The report includes a testimony of a Palestinian former detainee from Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, identified as "A. H.", who describes an attempt by Israeli guards to rape him with a carrot. B'Tselemen introduces the testimony by noting that similar incidents were reported by other Palestinian detainees.

Leaked video

In late July, a Palestinian prisoner in Sde Teiman was hospitalised with a ruptured bowel and a severe injury to his anus. He had also suffered from lung damage and broken ribs. A doctor from the detention camp reported that the prisoner sustained "a ruptured bowel, severe injuries to his anus, lung damage, and broken ribs".

Subsequently, nine Israeli reservists, including a major, were arrested on suspicion they had sodomized him and suspicion of mistreating the detainee. Protestors, including Knesset members, broke into the base where the reservists were being detained, demanding their release.

On August 6, Israel's Channel 12 broadcast a leaked surveillance video from Sde Teiman, which allegedly depicted Israeli soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian prisoner. Israeli lawmakers condemned the video leak, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling for an "immediate criminal investigation" to uncover the source of the leak, and describing the video as having "hugely damaged Israel internationally". UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, condemned the video and the surrounding case calling it "particularly gruesome" and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable. When asked directly about the video, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, stated that the US government was aware and had seen the video and had called for a full investigation as there should be zero tolerance for sexual abuse or rape of any detainee.

Execution of women in Gaza

On 19 February 2024, a group of United Nations special rapporteurs reported on claims that Palestinian women and children were "arbitrarily" targeted and killed in Gaza. Some were killed while holding white pieces of cloth, seeking refuge or fleeing.

Sexual abuse in the Gaza Strip

In May 2024, a group of UN special rapporteurs condemned "unacceptable" sexual violence and enforced disappearances of women and children in Gaza, stating, "We are appalled that women are being targeted by Israel with such vicious, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks".

Threats of rape and sexual violence

Palestinian women in Gaza have alleged threats of rape and sexual violence by invading Israeli soldiers. Speaking to Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, one Palestinian woman, who was pregnant, described being forced to undress by an Israeli soldier, who threatened to rape her.

Multiple Palestinian prisoners reported threats of rape following the outbreak of the war. One such woman, the journalist Lama Khater, reported threats of rape against female prisoners including herself: "They threatened to rape me... It was clear the goal was to intimidate me." Israel denied the allegations and threatened to prosecute her lawyer for incitement. Another released Palestinian female prisoner made similar allegations.

Coverage in media

Social media posts by IDF members

Videos and pictures of Israeli soldiers going through Palestinian women's underwear in Gaza went viral, leading MIFTAH, a Palestinian women's advocacy organization, to state they showed "depravity". In one video an IDF soldier records himself going through a Palestinian woman's wardrobe, including her underwear while making derogatory and sexist remarks about Arab women. Another image shows two male IDF troops, one wearing a Palestinian woman's bra while the other stands next to him groping the empty bra and sticking his tongue out, while another male IDF soldier is recorded detailing how he intends to bring back Palestinian women's belongings back to his girlfriend in Israel. A video was posted by an IDF soldier showing him sitting on top of a tank holding a female mannequin dressed in a black bra and helmet, stating "I found a beautiful wife, serious relationship in Gaza, great woman."

A UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, called the postings "...demeaning to Palestinian women, and all women." An assistant professor of law at Queen's University in Canada stated the posts violated article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which states all civilians are entitled to respect with women being especially protected against any attack on their honour.

Fabricated report allegations

In late March 2024, Al Jazeera reported in its live blog on an allegation against the IDF of committing rape at Shifa Hospital. The story was based on a testimony from Jamila al-Hessi, a Gazan woman, who said she had seen IDF soldiers "raping women then killing them and burning entire families alive." These reports quickly gained international attention and provoked widespread condemnation. However, it was subsequently reported that an investigation by Hamas determined that her allegations were false. Yasser Abuhilalah, a columnist and former director at Al Jazeera, said on social media that Hamas had found her allegation to be baseless. He added that "the woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood." In response, Al Jazeera removed its video but not the content on its live blog.

International reactions

In response to the UN report, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said, "Civilians and detainees must be treated humanely, and in accordance with international humanitarian law." The Palestinian Prisoner's Society has repeatedly stated that Palestinian men and women have been subjected to severe sexual assault, including attempted rape and violating strip searches. It cited video and dozens of testimonies documented by rights groups such as B'Tselem.

On August 8 The US and European Union denounced alleged sexual abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli troops. “The EU is gravely concerned by the allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman military facility in Israel and elsewhere,” said Peter Stano, a spokesperson for the bloc’s diplomatic service. He also called on Israel to allow Red Cross humanitarian workers to visit prisons where Palestinians are held.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on August 7: "We have seen the video, and reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific. There ought to be zero tolerance for sexual abuse, rape of any detainee, period." Miller further called on Israel to conduct a "swift" and "full" investigation of itself.

The US said it could not independently confirm independently earlier reports of sexual abuse in the UN report from February, and Israel criticized the report as biased. Israel alleged that one of the report’s authors had rhetorically legitimized Hamas’s 7 October attack a few days prior to the UN panel, and that another had "publicly doubted the testimonies of Israeli victims of gender-based and sexual violence." The Israeli mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland stated that "Israel forcefully rejects the despicable and unfounded claims published today by a group of so-called U.N. experts".

In an opinion piece in '' The New Arab'', Maryam Aldossari criticized Western feminists' ignoring of Israel's sexual violence against Palestinians, stating, "Remaining silent on one of the worst atrocities against women and children in our lifetime is indefensible." Alice Jill Edwards, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, condemned the alleged sexual abuse of detainees at Sde Teiman detention camp, stating, "There are no circumstances in which sexual torture or sexualised inhuman and degrading treatment can be justified".

See also

* Human rights violations against Palestinians by Israel
*Mass detentions in the Israel–Hamas war
*Sexual and gender-based violence in the 7 October attack on Israel
*Torture during the Israel–Hamas war
*War crimes in the Israel–Hamas war
* Women in the Israel–Hamas war

References

{{Israel–Hamas war

Sexual violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war