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Warning: This article contains depictions of sexual violence that some readers may find disturbing.
Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons have revealed how they were mistreated by guards and soldiers, including torture and sexual abuse.
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Speaking to Al Jazeera in the Gaza Strip, many ex-prisoners said that even after being released, their struggle was not over as survival led to another psychological battle, with the painful memories of being imprisoned still haunting them.
Survivor Mohammed al-Bakri was arrested during the Israeli war in Gaza in March 2024 and was imprisoned for almost 20 months.
He was transferred between several Israeli prisons before being imprisoned in East Jerusalem.
There he was blindfolded and chained together with other prisoners for several months, after being taken outside, he told Al Jazeera.
One night while he was in prison, the Israeli soldiers stripped him naked, released the dogs and raped him.
He said: “They handcuffed us first with chains in front of us.”
“The dogs were watered and attacked us brutally, one of the dogs was very big, and some soldiers also used porn when they were beating us.
After his release, al-Bakri learned that his wife had been killed in an Israeli strike while he was in prison.
More than 9,600 Palestinians were it happened in Israeli prisons last month, compared to about 5,250 before the war – an 83 percent increase, prisoner advocacy groups said.
They include 350 children and about 3,530 detainees who are being held without trial.
‘It’s not a lone wolf’
In another story, 17-year-old Ahmed, whose name is being withheld by Al Jazeera at the request of his family, was arrested near an aid station in Rafah in southern Gaza while trying to get food for his starving family.
Instead of returning with the powder, Ahmed was scared and depressed.
He is said to have endured degrading treatment during his arrest.
He said: “Israeli female soldiers suddenly arrived and chained us, stripped us and tied us with irons on our legs.
“I was locked in a very small cell, and then eight female soldiers appeared naked and started touching my body parts.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a non-profit organization that protects human rights, says that these testimonies are part of a wider and systematic process.
In its April report titled “Another Killing Behind the Fences,” the organization listed accounts that were released, detailing how male prisoners were mistreated in Israeli prisons.
Maha Hussaini of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor told Al Jazeera that Ahmed and al-Bakri were just two of the many crimes listed in the organization’s report.
“We have listed seven types of sexual violence, including rape and the threat of rape,” Hussaini said.
Kifaya Khraim from the Ramallah-based Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling, told Al Jazeera that allegations of torture and sexual abuse in Israeli prisons are “widespread”.
After interviewing 75 women who were arrested in different locations by the police in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, they all spoke of sexual violence, including being raped, tortured, humiliated or humiliated, Khraim said from The Hague in the Netherlands.
“It’s systematic. It doesn’t happen by itself. It’s not a lone wolf,” Khraim said, adding that Palestinian women and men are the victims, while Israeli security guards and soldiers are blamed for the violence.
