UN panel finds widespread sexual violence against Palestinians by Israel

Israeli authorities have systematically targeted and subjected Palestinians to sexual and gender-based violence—both online and in person—since October 7, a UN-backed commission said in a report published on Wednesday.

A first-of-its-kind investigation by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory – including East Jerusalem – showed that the Israeli military subjected Palestinians to sexual violence through forced public nudity, forced public stripping, sexualised torture and abuse, and sexual humiliation and harassment.

These incidents took place during ground operations together with evacuations and arrests in the war that has killed more than 37,200 Palestinains, mostly women and children.

“Based on testimonies and verified video footage and photographs, the commission finds that sexual violence has been perpetrated throughout the (Occupied Palestinian Territory) during evacuation processes, prior to or during arrest, at civilian homes and at a shelter for women and girls,” it said.

Sexual acts were carried out by force, including under threats, intimidation and other forms of duress, in inherently coercive circumstances due to war and the presence of armed Israeli soldiers, the UN body reported.

The Israeli forces forced public stripping and nudity in many locations, in humiliating circumstances, including when victims were blindfolded, kneeling and/or with their hands tied behind their backs while in underwear.

The commission’s report is based on interviews with victims and witnesses conducted remotely and during a mission to Türkiye and Egypt, thousands of open-source items verified through advanced forensic analysis, hundreds of submissions, satellite imagery and forensic medical reports.

Israel obstructed the commission’s investigations and prevented its access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the UN body said.

Palestinians were interrogated or subjected to verbal or physical abuse while fully or partially undressed, coerced to do physical movements while naked, and filmed or photographed by the Israeli forces doing any of these acts and disseminating the film and photographs.

“Palestinians were also made to watch members of their family and community strip in public and walk completely or partially undressed while subjected to sexual harassment,” it said.

Both male and female victims were subjected to such sexual violence, but men and boys were targeted in particular ways. Males were repeatedly filmed and photographed by soldiers while subjected to forced public stripping and nudity, sexual torture and inhumane or cruel treatment, the report said.

Palestinian women were also targeted and subjected to psychological violence and sexual harassment online, including shaming and doxing female detainees and drawing gendered and sexualised graffiti, including at a women’s shelter in Gaza that was directly targeted.

Israeli soldiers also filmed themselves ransacking homes, including drawers filled with lingerie, to mock and humiliate Palestinian women, referring to Arab women as “sluts”.

The commission concluded that gender-based violence directed at Palestinian women was intended to humiliate and degrade the Palestinian population as a whole.

In view of the frequency, prevalence and severity of such crimes perpetrated against Palestinians since 7 October across the occupied territory, the report concluded that specific forms of sexual and gender-based violence are part of " ISF [Israeli security forces] operating procedures”.

Regarding the acts in the occupied West Bank, the commission found that Israel committed “acts of sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment and outrages upon personal dignity, all of which are war crimes”.

The UN commission stated that forced public stripping and nudity and other types of abuse by Israeli military personnel were either ordered or condoned.

“These acts were intended to humiliate and degrade the victims and the Palestinian community at large, by perpetuating gender stereotypes that create a sense of shame, subordination, emasculation and inferiority,” it said, adding that such violence has been enabled by the broader targeting and ill-treatment of Palestinians.