Report accuses Israel of 'systematic' torture of Palestinian prisoners

Israel is operating “an organised and systematic practice of sexual torture” against Palestinian prisoners from Gaza in its custody, according to a new report by a leading rights organisation.

Researchers and lawyers at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) interviewed men and women from the Gaza Strip who had been released from Israeli detention. The detainees gave accounts of rape, forced stripping, filming of abuse, sexual assault using objects and dogs and psychological humiliation.

“I wished for death every moment,” said a 42-year-old mother who was detained while crossing an Israeli checkpoint in northern Gaza in November 2024.

She told the PCHR she endured repeated rapes and physical abuse that continued for days.

The former prisoner described being stripped, electrocuted, beaten and filmed while naked.

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