Israel must be held accountable for sexual violence against prisoners: Palestinian group

A prisoner advocacy group called Sunday for holding Israel accountable for “systematic” sexual violence and torture against Palestinian prisoners.

"Israeli crimes against Palestinians, including violations against thousands of prisoners, necessitate holding Israeli officials accountable and prosecuting them before competent international courts,” the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a statement.

A report by the office of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Friday that it had last year verified 31 cases of sexual violence perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. It said 13 of the cases had occurred in 2025, and 18 in the two years prior.

The report said the violations included rape, gang rape, forced nudity, and threats of rape.

The Palestinian group welcomed the UN report, saying it reflects "growing international recognition" of the scale of the Israeli violations committed against Palestinians.

The crimes of sexual violence "are no longer documented as individual or exceptional violations, but rather as policies and tools of repression and collective punishment systematically practiced by the occupation institutions," it added.

It stressed that these crimes amount to "war crimes and crimes against humanity" under international law.

The society said testimonies of Palestinian detainees showed that these violations inside Israeli prisons “are not isolated incidents, but rather part of a systematic policy aimed at breaking the Palestinian spirit and stripping them of their dignity and humanity.”

According to Palestinian figures, more than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including women and minors. Numerous deaths were reported among Palestinians in Israeli custody due to torture, starvation, and medical neglect, according to human rights groups.

*Writing by Rasa Evrensel in Istanbul