Palestinian journalist shares unsettling accounts of sexual assault in Israeli prisons
A Palestinian journalist and former detainee in Israeli prisons has recounted disturbing experiences of sexual violence inflicted upon him by a group of Israeli prison guards during his time in custody.
Sami al-Sa’i presented his testimony during an event organized by the MADA Center for Media Freedoms in the Israeli-occupied central West Bank city of Ramallah.
He was held under administrative detention from February 2024 until June 2025.
The obscure legal procedure of administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to imprison people without charge or trial for an indefinite amount of time. The officials have been using this procedure for more than half a century, basing it on secret evidence.
Many activists, journalists and political figures who challenge Israel’s military rule have found themselves in administrative detention.
Sa’i reported that he was sexually assaulted in Megiddo Prison, located in the northern part of the occupied territories.
According to his account, a group of guards attacked him with a baton after brutally beating him while he was restrained with handcuffs and blindfolded.
The journalist, who comes from the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm, recounted how guards dragged him while subjecting him to beatings and threats.
He was forced into a corner of the prison, stripped of his clothing, and made to kneel in a prostration position. Shortly after, he experienced a hard object being forcibly inserted into his body, which he described as causing unbearable pain.
Sa’i said the attack involved forceful strikes to sensitive areas of his body, with one guard pressing down on his head and neck.
In his testimony, the journalist detailed the dire conditions endured by Palestinians in Israeli prisons, highlighting systematic beatings, starvation, intimidation, and lack of proper medical care.
Palestinian prisoners’ rights organizations report that since the onset of the genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, numerous testimonies have been documented highlighting a rise in torture practices.
These accounts describe such actions beginning at the time of arrest, continuing during interrogation, and persisting throughout imprisonment.
Rights groups have previously warned that torture is no longer confined to interrogations aimed at extracting confessions.
Instead, Israeli authorities have reportedly implemented methods and tools that integrate torture into the daily lives of detainees, a practice that has escalated significantly since October 2023.
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