Tortures and sexual violence in Israel’s prisons. Torturas sexuales en las prisiones de Israel. ENG ESP

‘I wished for death’: Tortures and sexual violence in Israel’s prisons is an ‘organised state policy’
Palestinian testimonies reveal how sexual violence, including rape using objects and dogs, is approved by 'highest levels' of Israeli leadership
Katherine Hearst 11 April 2026
Sexual torture of Palestinian detainees from Gaza in Israeli prisons is an "organised state policy", endorsed by the "highest, political, military, and judicial authorities", a new report has revealed.

The report, seen exclusively by Middle East Eye, is based on testimonies from Palestinian former prisoners gathered by the rights watchdog Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

It reveals how the scope of sexual violence of Palestinian prisoners, including rape using objects and trained military dogs, constitutes an "organised state policy", aided and abetted by Israeli institutions and leadership.

One former detainee, a 42-year-old woman from north Gaza who was held in the notorious Sde Teiman detention centre, said she was bound naked to a metal table and repeatedly raped by two masked soldiers over the course of two days. 

She recalled that she was left shackled, naked and bleeding throughout the night before the soldiers returned the next day to continue raping her.
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She said she wished for death and likened her experience to "another genocide behind walls".

Throughout her ordeal, she was filmed. Soldiers later showed her the footage while she was hung by her wrists under interrogation, threatening to publish the videos if she did not "cooperate".

Amir, a 35-year-old Palestinian man also held at Sde Teiman, recounted how soldiers forced him to strip naked, before their dogs urinated on him and raped him.

He described how the dog "penetrated my anus in a trained manner while I was being beaten".

"This continued for several minutes. I felt profoundly humiliated and violated."

Khaled Mahajna, an attorney with the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, described how a soldier in Sde Teiman inserted a fire extinguisher nozzle into a Palestinian prisoner’s anus and then discharged its contents into his body, resulting in severe internal injuries and intense pain.

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