Khaberni - Writer Nicholas Kristof discusses shocking testimonies from Palestinians "exposed to violations and sexual assaults" by Israeli soldiers, prison guards, and Shabak investigators, in addition to settlers.
In an opinion piece in the "New York Times", the writer affirmed that UN and human rights reports have discussed the transformation of sexual violence against Palestinians into a "recurring procedure" within the Israeli security system, while a report by the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory accused Israel of practicing "systematic sexual violence" on a large scale.
The article relayed multiple accounts from former detainees who spoke of beatings, torture, humiliation, and threats of rape, in addition to sexual assaults using batons and tools inside the prisons.
Among the testimonies, Palestinian journalist Sami Al-Sa'i recounted being beaten and tortured after his arrest in 2024, before guards stripped him of his clothes and sexually assaulted him using a rubber baton, then another tool, while he was blindfolded and handcuffed, mentioning that some guards laughed during this.
The article also cited the testimony of a Palestinian farmer who said that six guards held his arms and legs inside the prison before sexually assaulting him with a metal baton, adding that he was assaulted more than once on the same day after trying to file a complaint.
Kristof also spoke of a Palestinian woman who said she was repeatedly stripped of her clothes and beaten and harassed inside the prison after her arrest following the October 7, 2023 attacks, where she explained that in the following few days, she was repeatedly stripped of her clothes, beaten, and searched by teams of both guards and female guards alike.
The pattern was always the same: several guards, both men and women, came to her cell, forcibly stripped her of her clothes, handcuffed her hands behind her back and bent her forward at the waist, sometimes pushing her head inside the toilet. She said that in this position, she was beaten and groped all over. She said, "Their hands were everywhere on my body. Honestly, I don't know if they raped me," because she sometimes lost consciousness from the beating. She believes the purpose of the violation was twofold: to break her spirit and also to allow the Israeli men to harass a naked Palestinian woman with impunity.
She added: "I was stripped of my clothes and beaten several times a day. It was as if they were introducing me to everyone who worked there. At the start of each shift, they brought the young men to strip me of my clothes." She noted that when she was about to leave the prison, she was summoned to a room with six officials and given a stern warning never to give any interviews: "They threatened that if I spoke out, they would rape and kill me and kill my father." Unsurprisingly, she refused to mention her name in this article.
The article also relayed the testimony of a journalist from Gaza who said that detainees were subjected to "humiliating and dirty" violations, including being beaten on the genitals, having his genitals tied with plastic ties for hours, in addition to the use of dogs during the torture processes, saying that some of the assaults were filmed with cameras.
The writer mentioned that Palestinian children also spoke of sexual threats and assaults during their detention, explaining that some of them were detained for stone throwing.
According to the article, organizations such as "Save the Children" and the "Committee to Protect Journalists" documented cases of sexual violence against children and Palestinian journalists inside Israeli detention centers.
On the other hand, the Israeli government rejected these accusations, and the Israeli Prison Service stated that it "categorically rejects" claims of sexual assaults, affirming that any complaints are examined by the competent authorities.
The writer noted that many victims hesitate to speak because of fear or feelings of shame or threats, adding that some former detainees said they were warned against speaking to the media after being released.
