This article contains descriptions of sexual abuse and violence which some readers may find distressing.
Two Palestinian men have told the BBC they personally experienced the kind of beatings and sexual abuse highlighted in recent reports into the treatment of prisoners in Israeli detention.
The United Nations Committee against Torture said last month that it was deeply concerned about reports indicating 'a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture and ill treatment' of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails. It said the allegations had 'gravely intensified' after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Other reports by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups have detailed what they say is 'systematic' abuse.
Israel has denied all the allegations, but rights groups say the fury in the country over the 7 October attacks and the treatment of Israeli hostages in Gaza has created a culture of impunity within the prison services, especially towards detainees who have expressed support for Hamas and its attacks.
Last year, leaked CCTV footage from inside an Israeli military prison showed a Palestinian man from Gaza allegedly being sexually abused by prison guards. That led to a resignation and recriminations at the top of Israel's military and political establishment.
Sami al-Saei, 46, now works in a furniture shop, but he used to be a freelance journalist in the town of Tulkarm, in the north of the occupied West Bank. He was arrested by Israeli soldiers in January 2024 after working with reporters to arrange interviews with members of Hamas and other armed groups.
He was detained without being charged for 16 months, under a controversial Israeli system known as administrative detention, before being released this summer. While he was being held in Megiddo prison in northern Israel, he said, the guards partially stripped him and raped him with a baton on or around 13 March 2024.
He described the assault, saying, 'There were five or six of them. They were laughing and enjoying it. The guard asked me: 'Are you enjoying this? We want to play with you, and bring your wife, your sister, your mother, and friends here too.'
Mr al-Saei shared that he ‘was hoping to die and be done from that,’ and that the pain extended beyond the sexual abuse, encompassing severe beatings he endured on a nearly daily basis.
Another detainee, known as Ahmed, recounts his experience of detention and abuse. Arrested for incitement to terrorism related to social media posts, he claims that prison guards sexually humiliated him involving a dog and subjected him to severe physical abuse.
Human rights groups have persistently called attention to the plight of over 9,000 Palestinian security detainees in Israeli jails, many held without charges. The allegations made by these detainees are part of a broader narrative of violence and a response to escalating tensions in the region.
As the situation continues to unravel, the international community calls for an investigation into these grave allegations, while Israeli officials maintain their adherence to the law and deny claims of misconduct.
