Israel’s continued obstruction of all UN investigations into allegations of sexual violence since October 7, 2023 is deeply concerning. These obstructions, coupled with substantial evidence indicating systematic and widespread acts of rape and other forms of sexual violence by Israeli forces against Palestinians, including prisoners and detainees, constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. The grounds for placing Israel on the United Nations blacklist of entities suspected of committing sexual violence in conflict are compelling.
Over the past 15 months, Israel has consistently refused to cooperate with all UN bodies investigating allegations of rape and other forms of sexual violence stemming from the October 7 attacks.
Last Wednesday, it was revealed that Israel had once again denied permission for an investigation to the UN Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten. This refusal is reportedly motivated by fears that a thorough investigation would uncover Israel’s systematic use of gang rape against Palestinians, including women and children, as Ms. Patten had insisted that access to Israeli detention centers to investigate allegations against Israeli soldiers was an essential condition of the process.
Israel’s refusal is all the more striking given that Israeli civil society had, until recently, a generally favorable opinion of Ms. Patten and had even invited her to visit Israel again.
Ms. Patten’s previous report, published on March 11, 2024, is the only instance where the Israeli government provided information to a UN investigation into allegations of sexual violence. However, as the report makes clear, the mission’s mandate at the time was not to investigate. The report recommends that the Israeli government cooperate with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem and Israel, as well as with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), to facilitate thorough investigations into all alleged violations, particularly after Israel denied these entities access and cooperation, as outlined in the report.
Israeli obstruction of the truth in this context was first highlighted in January 2024, when the Israeli government expressly prohibited Israeli doctors and relevant authorities from cooperating with the UN Commission of Inquiry into the occupied Palestinian territory, calling the commission “anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic”. Since then, the Israeli government has continued to maintain this obstructive stance, undermining the Commission’s efforts to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation, which constitutes a breach by Israel of its obligation. made by international law to cooperate with UN bodies. Israel also denies victims on both sides their right to justice and accountability for alleged violations.
“Israel’s repeated refusal to cooperate with all UN investigations into sexual violence highlights the Israeli government’s exploitation of allegations of this grave crime as a propaganda tool to obtain consent for its separate genocide whole, broadcast live,” said Ramy Abdu, president of Euro-Med Monitor. “Israel is simply using these allegations to shame and defame its critics and deflect blame for its terrible crimes against humanity.”
Over the past 15 months, the Euro-Med Monitor team has documented numerous cases of sexual violence perpetrated by Israel, including rape and other forms of sexualized torture, against Palestinian civilians, including people kidnapped in the Israeli torture camp of Sde Teiman.
In at least one case, a Palestinian detainee was raped by Israeli police dogs as part of their assault. In Sde Teiman, “the soldiers removed the blindfolds that covered our eyes for the first time,” lawyer Fadi Saif al-Din Bakr, released on February 22, 2024 after 45 days of detention, told the team. Euro-Med Monitor. “The soldiers then pulled a young man sitting to my right, forced him to sleep on the ground and tied his hands and feet. Suddenly, the occupation soldiers unleashed trained police dogs on the young man, who was raped by the dogs. Throughout the ordeal I endured, it was one of the most horrific things I have witnessed.”
And al-Din Bakr added: “Everything was very bad [pour aller de l’avant] : “It was a lot [à vivre]and it was only one [incident] more which was added to the list of torments. I was hoping to die so this wouldn’t happen to me, but one of the soldiers told me to get ready.[Howeveramiraclehappenedintheprison:thetorturesessionquicklyendedandweweretakenbacktothebarn[Pourtantunmiracles’estproduitdanslaprison :laséancedetortures’estrapidementterminéeetnousavonsétéramenésdanslagrange
In some cases, Palestinians have been raped to death by members of the Israeli army. These documented incidents provide strong evidence of the systematic and widespread nature of these atrocities, revealing that Israel has used sexual violence as a deliberate tactic to destroy the morale of the Palestinian population.
Among 36 detainee deaths under investigation at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman detention center, one Palestinian is believed to have died following a horrific act of rape using an electric baton. This brutal act, like many others, is unlikely to be investigated or prosecuted in Israel, and it will be shielded from international scrutiny as Israel continues to block investigations into such crimes.
Numerous reports from international, UN and Israeli human rights organizations, including the UN Human Rights Office, Amnesty International and B’Tselem, document the systematic and widespread use of torture and of sexual violence by Israel against Palestinians.
Additionally, the June 2024 report of the UN Inspection Committee on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, reached similar conclusions. It documents a “significant increase in the range, frequency and severity of sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) against Palestinians” since October 7, 2023. The report also states that this increase is “linked to an intention to punish and humiliate Palestinians.”
Recently, the Euro-Med Monitor team collected horrific testimonies at Kamal Adwan Hospital regarding the sexual assault of civilians, including female medical staff and children. The victims were forced to remove their clothes and scarves and were subjected to humiliating body searches by male Israeli army personnel. One woman, forcibly evacuated from the hospital, told the Euro-Med Monitor team: “A soldier forced a nurse to remove her pants and then placed his hand on her genitals. When she tried to resist, he hit her hard in the face, causing her nose to bleed.”
Israeli crimes of killing Palestinians and inflicting serious physical and psychological harm on them through torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence, including rape, are carried out with extreme brutality and in a systematic manner, which clearly demonstrates of a specific intention to destroy the Palestinian people. These acts constitute elements of the crime of genocide, as defined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Euro-Med Monitor calls on the United Nations to include Israel in its blacklist of entities involved in sexual violence in conflict. This call is made in light of substantial evidence documenting Israel’s systematic use of sexual violence, including rape and other forms of sexual abuse, as part of its broader campaign to annihilate the Palestinian people. .
Euro-Med Monitor highlights the urgent need for international accountability and a thorough investigation into these atrocities in order to bring justice to the victims and prevent impunity from being perpetuated. The Observatory says that over several decades, Israel has consistently demonstrated a lack of willingness and ability to hold accountable or prosecute those involved in crimes committed against Palestinians, with those individuals benefiting from a judicial, political, military and even popular protection.
It is imperative that the international community support the International Criminal Court (ICC) in conducting a thorough investigation into these crimes, ensuring that they are taken into account in the charges brought against Israeli officials before the Court, and ensure that all those responsible for these crimes are held accountable and prosecuted.
Translation: AFPS
Photo: Gazan women devastated by the massacres committed by the Israeli army, February 2024 © Volker Türk, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
