Sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians during the Israel–Hamas war

During the 2023–24 Israel–Hamas war, Palestinians have reportedly faced wartime sexual violence from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. Two Palestinian women reported being raped by male Israeli soldiers while in prison. Male Palestinians have also been subjected to sexual violence and torture by IDF soldiers, with at least one reported case of a Palestinian prisoner dying while being sexually assaulted by Israeli soldiers at Sde Teiman detention camp.

The IDF has been accused of committing acts of gender-based violence, war crimes and crimes against humanity in keeping with the recognition of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that sexual violence is a war crime and a crime against humanity.

The UN has condemned the alleged acts of rape and sexual violence by the IDF.

Sexual abuse prior to October 7
Claims of torture, ill-treatment, and sexual violence against detained Palestinians by Israel, have been made before the 7 October attacks and invasion of Gaza,    with documentation recorded by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI)  and Amnesty International. There have been extensive reports of sexual violence against both male and female detainees, including imprisoned Lebanese Amal leader Mustafa Dirani who sued Israel on the claim of rape.

Rape and sexual abuse of girls and women
On 19 February 2024, a group of United Nations special rapporteurs released a report stating "rights experts call for probe into violations against Palestinian women and girls." According to the report, there is evidence that during the Israel–Hamas war, Palestinian women and girls were subjected to wartime sexual violence. According to these allegations, Palestinian women and girls were also subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by the IDF, such as they were denied menstruation pads, food and medicine, and were severely beaten, raped, assaulted, threatened with rape and sexual violence, and subjected to multiple forms of other sexual assaults. Palestinian women and girls were also stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. OHCHR stated that Israeli troops had photographed female detainees in “degrading circumstances” and that the photos had been uploaded online.

The UN report states, "Palestinian women and girls in detention have also been subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. At least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped". One of the special rapporteurs; Reem Alsalem, cautioned that the reservation in reporting sexual violence was common due to reprisal concerns. Alsalem stated that since the 7 October attacks, women and girls in Israeli detention had faced an increasingly permissive attitude by Israeli officials towards sexual assault. According to Middle East Eye, the phrase "at least" highlighted the fact that many occurrences remain unrecorded, as victims dread the stigma and repercussions associated with speaking out about sexual abuse in "a patriarchal society reluctant to address such atrocities".

The special rapporteurs have also raised concerns over a number of Palestinian women and children going missing, with reports of children being separated from their parents. In one instance a female infant was reportedly forcibly moved to Israel by the IDF. In response to the report, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said, "Civilians and detainees must be treated humanely, and in accordance with international humanitarian law." Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also described the sexual humiliation of detainees, including sexual insults and urination on prisoners. The Palestinian Prisoner's Society stated men had been subjected to severe sexual assault, including attempted rape and violating strip searches.

The Associated Press in March 2024 reported on Palestinian women claiming to have been abused during their detention by Israel, one woman said that Israeli soldiers conducted strip searches, and during the detention, if "we raised our heads or uttered any words, they beat us on the head [...] Loud music, shouting and intimidation — they wanted to humiliate us. We were handcuffed, blindfolded, and our feet were tied in chains"; another woman alleged that an Israeli soldier smashed her face into a wall when she would not kiss the flag of Israel.

Sexual abuse and sexualised torture of boys and men
A June 2024 report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory stated both Israel and Hamas had committed sexual violence and torture, along with intentional attacks on civilians. Speaking about Israeli actions against Palestinians, the report stated, "Men and boys experienced specific persecutory acts, including sexual and gender-based violence amounting to torture and inhuman and cruel treatment." The Commission's report was completed through the use of interviewing victims and witnesses along with a variety of other means, and Israel had previously announced its refusal to cooperate. The report indicates that sexual violence was used by the IDF to push the idea of "the subordination of an occupied people" in both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Many detained victims by IDF forces were allegedly interrogated or abused while either naked or in partial stages of dressed, while blindfolded and made to knell or had their hands tied behind their backs. Others were forced to strip in public and walk while being sexually harassed, at times in front of their family members who were forced to watch. While both genders were forced to do this, men and boys were reportedly targeted specifically. In June 2024, men detained at the Sde Teiman detention camp stated Israeli forces had inserted "hot metal sticks" and "electric sticks" into their rectums, resulting in the death of at least one man.

In June 2024 A Palestinian prisoner released from the Sde Teiman detention camp gave testimony that prisoners were raped by dogs. +972 Magazine also reported systematic use of rape, sexual violence and torture in the detention camp witnessed by Muhammad Arab, a reporter for the Al Araby network who was arrested in March while covering the Israeli siege of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Execution of women in Gaza
On 19 February 2024, a group of United Nations special rapporteurs reported on claims that Palestinian women and children were "arbitrarily" targeted and killed in Gaza. Some were reportedly killed while holding white pieces of cloth, seeking refugee or fleeing.

Sexual abuse in the Gaza Strip
In May 2024, a group of UN special rapporteurs condemned "unacceptable" sexual violence and enforced disappearances of women and children in Gaza, stating, "We are appalled that women are being targeted by Israel with such vicious, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks".

Threats of rape and sexual violence
Palestinian women in Gaza have alleged threats of rape and sexual violence by invading Israeli soldiers. Speaking to Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, one Palestinian woman, who was pregnant, described being forced to undress by an Israeli soldier, who threatened to rape her.

Multiple Palestinian prisoners reported threats of rape following the outbreak of the war. One such woman, Lama Khater, reported threats of rape against female prisoners including herself: "They threatened to rape me... It was clear the goal was to intimidate me." Israel denied the allegations and threatened to prosecute her lawyer for incitement. Another released Palestinian female prisoner made similar allegations.

Social media posts by IDF members
Videos and pictures of Israeli soldiers going through Palestinian women's underwear in Gaza went viral, leading MIFTAH, a Palestinian women's advocacy organization, to state they showed "depravity". In one video an IDF soldier records himself going through a Palestinian woman's wardrobe, including her underwear while making derogatory and sexist remarks about Arab women. Another image shows two male IDF troops, one wearing a Palestinian woman's bra while the other stands next to him groping the empty bra and sticking his tongue out, while another male IDF soldier is recorded detailing how he intends to bring back Palestinian women's belongings back to his girlfriend in Israel. A video was posted by an IDF soldier showing him sitting on top of a tank holding a female mannequin dressed in a black bra and helmet, stating "I found a beautiful wife, serious relationship in Gaza, great woman."

Women interviewed in Geneva expressed their outrage and discomfort at the images posted by the IDF, which shows male IDF troops posing with lingerie and underwear of Palestinian women that they had taken from displaced persons homes in Gaza. A UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, called the postings as "...demeaning to Palestinian women, and all women." An assistant professor of law at Queen's University in Canada stated the posts violated article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which states all civilians are entitled to respect with women being especially protected against any attack on their honour.

Fabricated report allegations
In late March 2024, Al Jazeera reported in its live blog on an allegation against the IDF of committing rape at Shifa Hospital. The story was based on a testimony from Jamila al-Hessi, a Gazan woman, who said she had seen IDF soldiers “raping women then killing them and burning entire families alive.” These reports quickly gained international attention and provoked widespread condemnation. However, it was subsequently reported that an investigation by Hamas determined that her allegations were false. Yasser Abuhilalah, a columnist and former director at Al-Jazeera, said on social media that Hamas had found her allegation to be baseless. He added that "the woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood." In response, Al-Jazeera removed its video but not the content on its live blog.

International reactions
In response to the UN report, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said, "Civilians and detainees must be treated humanely, and in accordance with international humanitarian law." Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also described the sexual humiliation of detainees, including sexual insults and urination on prisoners. The Palestinian Prisoner's Society stated men had been subjected to severe sexual assault, including attempted rape and violative strip searches.

The US said it could not independently confirm independently the reports, Israel said it had not received any complaint of sexual abuse, and criticized the UN report as biased. Israel alleged that one of the report’s authors had rhetorically legitimized Hamas’s 7 October attack a few days prior to the UN panel, and that another had “publicly doubted the testimonies of Israeli victims of gender-based and sexual violence.” The Israeli mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland stated that "Israel forcefully rejects the despicable and unfounded claims published today by a group of so-called U.N. experts".