Violations Against Palestinian Female Detainees: Testimonies of Sexual Violence and Inhuman Treatment by Israeli Forces

Watan-The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights documented new testimonies about the exposure of Palestinian female detainees from Gaza to sexual violence, torture, and inhuman treatment by Israeli forces. This includes nudity, sexual harassment, and threats of rape during their detention periods of varying lengths.

According to a statement issued by the Observatory, testimonies from recently released detainees who had spent different periods of detention revealed harsh practices bordering on torture. These practices include brutal beatings, threats of rape for not complying with officer commands, forced complete nudity and strip searches in front of male soldiers, verbal abuse, prolonged binding and blindfolding, confinement in open cages in extremely cold conditions, deprivation of food, medicine, necessary medical treatment, and feminine hygiene products. They were continuously threatened with being deprived of seeing their children, and Israeli forces also looted their money and belongings during the arrests.

The Euro-Mediterranean team conducted field interviews with dozens of women who stated that they were subjected to sexual and verbal harassment. The Observatory estimates that a larger number of detainees experienced such violations but chose not to disclose or talk about them due to social norms, trauma, fear of retaliation, persecution, or being killed by the Israeli army.

The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory indicates that obtaining the accurate number or actual scale of these violations against Palestinian women and girls is likely to take longer to ascertain.

Forcing a detainee to completely undress

“N.H.” (45 years old), a resident of Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, stated that she was arrested on December 28, 2023, from inside a school sheltering displaced persons managed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. She remained detained for 43 days.

“N.H.” recounted that the occupation army raided the school in the early morning, summoned the males, forced them to strip naked, and detained them. Then the women were interrogated by requesting to check their personal identities, indicating that the army asked her to enter a room for a medical examination.

She added: “After entering the room, we were searched while completely naked inside a closed place, and the soldiers kept hitting us severely.”

She noted that she was subjected to naked searches several times in open places in the presence of male soldiers, and during her nudity, a female soldier insulted her, spat on her, and commented on her body.

She clarified that she was detained for 11 days in a cage resembling an “animal cage” in the open air, chained all the time in extremely cold weather. There was only one toilet in the place without sufficient food or water. She explained that she was interrogated about her family members while being tied to a chair.

She stated that she was interrogated again after four days of being inside the cage, and was blackmailed with not seeing her children again if she did not cooperate with the investigators. She was continuously subjected to verbal insults from the soldiers and female recruits, as well as being filmed with mobile phones to document their torture while ignoring the deterioration of their health conditions.

Threat of rape

On the other hand, “N.M.” (39 years old), who requested anonymity, stated that before her arrest, three of her brothers were killed in two separate incidents by Israeli reconnaissance aircraft shelling and gunfire. She pointed out that when the military vehicles raided the school, the males were stripped naked, interrogated, and then taken with the women to a nearby mosque. Their personal cards were confiscated, and they were all interrogated individually.

She added that she was interrogated by soldiers who threatened her with rape if she did not obey their orders to record video clips criticizing the Hamas movement, in addition to threatening her with not seeing her children if she did not cooperate.

She mentioned that she was transferred to the Israeli “Damun” prison and interrogated about military issues under extremely poor living conditions, and they were not allowed to leave the narrow room.

“Sh.D.” (20 years old), from the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, told the Euro-Mediterranean team that she was arrested for 50 days from inside a government school sheltering displaced persons in Gaza City.

She explained that when she was arrested, her hands were tied behind her back, a band was placed over her eyes, and she was searched while naked except for her underwear, before being transported with other detainees in a military jeep to the “Zikim” military site. The soldiers left them on the pavement for about two hours, mocking and speaking in Hebrew, which they did not understand.

She said: “The detention phase was extremely difficult, and I suffered muscle tension in my bound hands. When I tried to adjust my position, the Israeli female soldier hit me severely on my back. Then we were transported by truck to a mountainous area near Jerusalem in a detention center called Anatuot, where the temperature was low, and we suffered from severe cold.”

She added: “We stayed there on the pavement for about an hour, then they gave us the known prison clothes in gray. After that, they collectively tied us in a queue and mocked us as we walked, then they led us to a place resembling a hellish cage. We stayed in this cage for about 8 days, without meeting our basic needs like using the toilet and food.”

She continued: “During those days, only a yogurt meal was provided, and the amount of food was very little, but we shared it among ourselves. We were subjected to bad verbal insults, and we were prevented from bathing and using sanitary pads except in very limited quantities that were not enough for even one day.”

She added: “The soldiers prevented us from praying, and they kept us outdoors under the rain.” She explained that she was subjected to several assaults by female recruits, and after spending eight days, she was transferred to the Damun prison.

She concluded: “During the transfer, one of the female recruits lifted the band from my eyes and asked me to kiss the Israeli flag. When I refused, she brutally hit me in my face, and she continued to provoke me and assault me out of revenge afterward.”

Medical neglect

“S.D.” complained of medical neglect during her time at Damun prison, and she underwent harsh interrogation sessions until she was released.

On her part, “R.R.” (31 years old), a resident of northern Gaza, stated that she was arrested on December 3rd last year while walking on foot through the military checkpoint (Netzarim) to the south of Gaza.

She said that upon her arrest, all her belongings including gold, money, mobile phone, and personal belongings were confiscated. She was forced to undress before her hands were tied and her eyes blindfolded. She was then transferred to a detention center at the Zikim site and subjected to harsh interrogation sessions, including physical abuse, torture, and verbal insults.

She explained that her most basic needs, including care during her menstrual cycle, were denied. She was blackmailed on several occasions, including being asked to work for Israeli intelligence and threatened with torture and death if she refused.

She later was transferred to Damun prison by bus, where she was brutally beaten by a soldier and subjected to further interrogation. During this time, she was physically assaulted while naked, exposed to severe cold outdoors, before being released on January 19th.

UN Concern

A statement by United Nations experts last week expressed concern over reliable reports of gross human rights violations suffered by Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank, including sexual violence, rape, threats, torture, and deprivation of health care and food.