‘After being raped 4 times, tied up naked for hours, filmed’

A recently released Palestinian woman has spoken of her horrific experience of being repeatedly subjected to sexual abuse and inhumane treatment while being held in an Israeli prison. The Palestinian human rights organization, the Palestine Center for Human Rights (PCHR), published the woman’s testimony in a statement.

The statement said that the woman was raped four times by Israeli soldiers, filmed naked, electrocuted, physically tortured and sexually abused using dogs. The organization described these heinous acts as “an organized and systematic form of sexual abuse.”

The 42-year-old woman was arrested in November 2024 while crossing an Israeli checkpoint in the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.

“I was sexually abused multiple times by Israeli soldiers. I was raped four times. They abused me, took off my clothes, filmed me, shocked me with electricity and beat me,” TRT World reported.

She also said that in the morning, the soldiers were shouting, “It is forbidden to perform the Fajr prayer.” They told me to take off my clothes. I did so. Then they made me lie down on a metal table, handcuffed me, and forcibly pulled my legs - a man raped me. I screamed, they hit my back and head, and I just wanted to die while I was blindfolded.’ After the rape, she was tied up naked in the same room for hours. One day, I was naked, they watched through the door.’

The woman said, “I spent a whole day naked in the room I was in. On the third day, I was also naked. They watched me through the door, filming me. One soldier said, they will post my pictures on social media.” Later, when her period started, she was allowed to put on clothes and transferred to another room.

The organization said male detainees had also been subjected to sexual violence. An 18-year-old youth who worked at a humanitarian aid center in Gaza said, “Seven of us were made to kneel by soldiers. Then we were raped with bottles.”

PCHR called on the international community to immediately end Israel’s systematic policy of torture, disappearances and sexual violence and to release all Palestinian prisoners held without trial.

The organization also demanded that the International Committee of the Red Cross be given immediate and unhindered access to all Israeli detention centers.

The organization warned that the lives of thousands of Palestinian prisoners are now at risk, as the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, recently gave preliminary approval to a death penalty bill. In a vote on Monday night, 39 people voted in favor and 16 against. The proposal would allow the death penalty for those convicted of "terrorism crimes."

These reports of torture are not isolated incidents, but rather an "organized state policy" aimed at "destroying human dignity and completely erasing Palestinian identity." Organizations are calling it part of an ongoing genocide in Gaza.