A new report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, corroborated by a UN special rapporteur and a formal warning from the UN secretary-general, has concluded that sexual violence against Palestinians in Israeli detention, including rape usingtrained dogs, constitutes an organised state policy rather than isolated misconduct.

Thereport, published on 12 April 2026 and titled 'Another Genocide Behind Walls,' draws on direct testimonies from Palestinian former detainees recently released by Israeli forces, documenting rape, sexualised torture with hard objects, genital mutilation and the use of animals during interrogation.

Its publication follows a March 2026 report to the UN Human Rights Council by special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who concluded that torture in Israeli detention has become 'a structural feature of the ongoing genocide' and is 'sanctioned at the highest political levels.' Israel rejects the characterisation of systematic abuse and has repeatedly denied independent UN monitors access to its detention facilities.

The Euro-Med Monitor report details the testimony of Wajdi, a 43-year-old former detainee who spent a year in Israeli custody. He told researchers that during interrogation he was tied naked to a metal bed, then raped by a soldier while other soldiers filmed the assault and mocked him.

He described being brought a trained dog, which also raped him. He said the rape was repeated at least twice more on the same day and again two days later by three soldiers. Wajdi told Euro-Med Monitor: 'I wished for death. I was bleeding.'

Thefull reportalso documents a 48-year-old detainee identified as A.J., who alleged that during interrogation an interrogator squeezed his testicles and attempted to insert an object into his penis, causing him to lose consciousness. He said he woke in hospital to learn his testicles had been surgically removed. Multiple other testimonies describe rape with metal rods, rifle butts, fire extinguisher nozzles and wooden sticks, resulting in documented cases of intestinal rupture, severe anal injuries and permanent loss of urinary and reproductive function.

There is now overwhelming evidence of the use of dogs to rape Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons - first reported in our Oct 2024 Al Jazeera Investigative Unit film GAZA. /1https://t.co/cj0QAB0f0Bpic.twitter.com/APTbqx3EKE

Euro-Med Monitor researcher Khaled Ahmad told the organisation that accessing such cases was 'nearly impossible' because of the cultural weight of the disclosures. He said the group knew the actual number of victims was higher than those documented, and that 'dozens of other male and female victims who were raped or sexually assaulted chose to remain silent.' Women's cases were especially under-represented, Ahmad said, because disclosure in Palestinian society carries 'greater and more complex consequences' for female victims.

A 42-year-old woman from northern Gaza who was held at Sde Teiman, cited in subsequent reporting, alleged that she was bound naked to a metal table and repeatedly raped by two masked soldiers over two days. She said she was filmed throughout and that soldiers later showed her the footage during interrogation, threatening to publish it if she did not cooperate. Israel has denied these specific allegations.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese submitted her report, titled 'Torture and Genocide (A/HRC/61/71),' to the Human Rights Council in March 2026. Drawing on more than 300 testimonies collected by multiple organisations, remote consultations with legal experts and survivors and accounts from Israeli whistleblowers, Albanese found that Israel's detention system has 'degenerated into a laboratory of calculated cruelty.'

Source: International Business Times UK