Hidden Horror Behind Bars: Journalist Recalls Sexual Torture in Israeli Detention

December 01, 2025 – Palestine – 

A Palestinian journalist, speaking under the pseudonym “Yahya” to protect his identity, has come forward with shocking allegations of sexual assault and torture while held in custody by Israeli authorities. According to a report dated 30 November 2025, the journalist told the Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) that he and seven other detainees were taken to an isolated area inside a detention centre and subjected to collective sexual violence.

Yahya claims that during detention at the Sde Teiman detention camp, he was blindfolded, bound, and held in degrading conditions while Israeli soldiers allegedly filmed and mocked the abuse. He said the assault lasted about three minutes and left him with acute psychological trauma, unable to function for months afterward. He described a broader pattern of inhumane treatment over 20 months of imprisonment — including harsh interrogations, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, starvation, denial of medical care, overcrowding, and witnessing the deaths of other detainees. According to him, once authorities discovered he was a journalist, the abuse intensified, and he was threatened with life sentences for his reporting.

The PJPC contends that the documented abuses amount to rape and sexual torture under the definitions of the Convention Against Torture, and could potentially be considered war crimes or crimes against humanity if the allegations are confirmed. The centre has called for an independent investigation, prosecution of perpetrators under universal jurisdiction, urgent psychological and medical support for survivors, and witness protection measures.

These new allegations come amid mounting international concern over the treatment of Palestinians in detention. A recent report from the United Nations Committee against Torture described a “de facto state policy” of systemic torture — including beatings, electrocution, prolonged stress positions, sexual violence, and other forms of ill-treatment — in Israeli detention facilities since the start of the Gaza war in 2023.

For many observers, Yahya’s testimony offers grim confirmation of what human-rights organisations and freed detainees have warned was being systematically denied: that sexual violence and torture are being used not as isolated excesses but as a deliberate tool of repression. The coming days will reveal whether international bodies or courts heed calls for accountability — and whether survivors like Yahya will ever see justice.

Reference – 

https://english.palinfo.com/news/2025/11/30/352685/

https://nabdapp.com/t/164585983

https://en.safa.news/post/6026/Palestinian-Journalist-Reports-Sexual-Torture-in-Israeli-Detention