A member of the Israeli security forces stands guard at the Gilboa prison in northern Israel on September 18, 2021, as Arab-Israelis gather outside the prison to express their support of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. - Six inmates staged a dramatic escape from Gilboa jail in northern Israel on September 6 after digging a tunnel under a sink in their cell and making their way to freedom. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
Gaza, November 18, 2025 (WAFA) – Mohammed Dahman
” I was screaming and no one could hear me… I wished I could die rather than remain shackled under their control. What they did to me is not something a human being would do, and what is hidden is even more cruel .”
With these words, the released prisoner (A.N.), 42 years old, a resident of northern Gaza, began her shocking testimony about the torture and rape she was subjected to inside the occupation prisons, from the moment of her forced displacement from Beit Lahia on October 29, 2024, until her release after more than a month of detention .
(A.N.) describes what she went through as “another genocide behind the walls,” stressing that she did not know day from night inside the cells, and that she lost all sense of time except for one number: 101, the number that the soldiers gave her as a substitute for her name and identity .
Torture from the very first moment
The prisoner says that since her arrival at the military checkpoint set up by the occupation army inside the Gaza Strip, she has been subjected to systematic humiliation: being handcuffed, blindfolded, having her hijab forcibly removed, and being left in the open on gravel in extreme cold. She is the only woman among 150 male detainees .
The following day, she was transported with the rest of the detainees via two vehicles that she described as “unfit for human use “.
She adds: “We were beaten all the way, along with a barrage of insults, some of which targeted God and the Islamic religion. We arrived at a military checkpoint in the Sderot area, where we stayed for one night. It was just a transit point towards something worse .”
After being transferred to Sde Timan prison, she was forced to undress completely at gunpoint. According to her testimony, when she raised her hands to remove her shirt, the blindfold was pulled off her eyes for a moment, during which she saw two soldiers pointing their phones at her and filming her. They shouted at her to get the blindfold back, leaving her in her underwear before dressing her in a gray prison uniform, while a female soldier cut her hair .
Then they re-handcuffed her so tightly that it caused her bleeding wounds. She was placed inside a narrow cage that did not allow her to sit, and she remained standing despite her urgent need to relieve herself, but the soldiers refused to allow her to do so, so she was forced to relieve herself standing in front of everyone amidst insults and mockery .
Later, she and the rest of the prisoners were taken out to the courtyard, where they were forced to kneel for long hours with their heads to the ground, while the soldiers unleashed trained dogs that attacked them, to the point that she urinated on herself again out of sheer terror, amidst the soldiers’ screams and laughter .
Hours later, the detainees were taken to what was called a medical examination, where a “doctor” asked her if she was suffering from any illnesses. She answered in the negative. When he asked her if she had been beaten, and she answered yes, the same “doctor” showered her with insults and abuse, in a scene that negated any medical or humanitarian function, according to her .
Upon her return to the square, still kneeling and handcuffed, two soldiers led her to an intelligence officer sitting behind a table who questioned her about the tunnels and wanted members of her family. She says she kept replying that she knew nothing, at which point the soldiers began beating her, focusing on the base of her skull. The officer offered her cooperation in exchange for her release, making false promises of protection, then threatened to rape her and target her family if she didn’t cooperate. Despite the pain and fear, she says she refused all their offers .
” The Rape Room”… The Most Heinous Crime
(A.N.) describes the third day as the true beginning of the most heinous crimes, when four masked soldiers took her to a four-square-meter room with a metal table fixed to the floor in the center, as if it were designed for torturing and raping women. She was ordered to undress completely, then they tied her to the table, and two soldiers took turns raping her violently, while two others filmed the scene with their phones .
Her testimony continues, stating that the room was equipped with surveillance cameras, and that she was then left bound and naked for a full day without food or water. The following day, the same soldiers returned, also masked. She says, “They raped me again, and one of them removed his mask and said his name was Leo, that he was of Russian origin, and demanded that I have sex with him. When I refused, he and his colleagues beat me brutally .”
As a result of being repeatedly raped, she suffered bleeding and injuries. That night, her period started while she was still tied to the table, so they left her bleeding all night without any attempt to untie her .
She adds: “I lost the ability to tell time. Night is like day inside the prison. All I knew was that I was number 101. “
A day or two later, the soldiers took her to another room with chains and shackles hanging from the ceiling, and a metal cross used to bind prisoners. She was ordered to undress completely again, then her feet were bound and her hands were suspended. They beat her, focusing their blows on her chest until she felt she was suffocating. Afterward, they showed her photos of herself naked and of her rape, threatening to publish them if she didn’t cooperate. When she refused again, they attached electrical wires to her body and repeatedly shocked her until she lost consciousness. They revived her by splashing cold water on her body, then took her down and returned her to her cell .
(A.N.) describes her cell as being like a refrigerator: the air conditioning was set to the coldest, there was no mattress or blanket. She received only a glass of milk and an apple a day, and they treated her with contempt because of the bleeding from her period and the wounds caused by the rape .
On the fifth day, a soldier, accompanied by a female recruit, gave her a sanitary pad. She says she noticed its strange shape, and when she touched it, she found small granules inside, like pebbles or sugar. She placed it in the water container in the cell, whereupon it began to react and emit a white smoke with a suffocating odor similar to burning chemicals. She believes it was intended to harm her genitals. When the soldiers returned and saw the smoke, they realized she hadn’t used it and began verbally abusing her .
He transferred her to Damon… “and nothing was better .”
On the sixth night, an officer who introduced himself as “Captain Abu Ali” entered her room and asked why she wasn’t sleeping. She told him she couldn’t sleep because of the intense pain. He informed her that she would be transferred to Damon Women’s Prison and that “the situation would be better” there. However, as soon as she arrived at Damon in the evening, she discovered that the torture hadn’t ended. They offered her a deal to cooperate with them by relaying information about the female prisoners, but she refused .
In “Al-Damoun,” beatings without cause were part of the daily routine, and they would randomly select rooms to beat everyone inside. The food was rotten, and the smell was unbearable. I asked for treatment for my rape wounds, but was refused. They would spray pepper spray inside the rooms until the female prisoners lost consciousness from the intense pain and suffocation .
She spent 25 days in this prison. Then the officers forced her to sign a document denying that she had been subjected to any torture or rape, and threatened to release the videos and photos if she refused. After that, she was transferred to the “Moscovia” prison in Jerusalem, where she stayed for one day, during which she was subjected to the same beatings and insults, as she says, “as if they had agreed to torture us everywhere .”
Release with a weary body and a bleeding memory
After more than a month of detention and torture, she was released on December 6, 2024, and transferred to the “Karm Abu Salem” crossing wearing a gray prison uniform and number 101, after they had seized all her belongings: a ring, a chain, a gold bracelet, and 4,200 shekels that had been stolen since she was transferred to the “Sde Teiman ” prison.
At the crossing, she was received by the staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross, where she informed them of all the details of what had happened to her, and she was transferred to the European Hospital in Gaza, and her body bore clear and obvious signs of torture .
Since her release nearly a year ago, (A.N.) has been trying to return to a normal life, but the effects of torture continue to haunt her. She is receiving psychological treatment through the Red Cross and admits that she has contemplated suicide more than once and has repeatedly wished for death, but she survived thanks to the support of her family and loved ones. She says she cannot sleep; nightmares visit her every night, carrying her back to those cold cells and closed rooms .
“Tell us about us”… a testament from behind bars
She concludes her testimony with the will of one of her fellow female prisoners in “Damon” prison: “Tell the world about us… Don’t let our voice die… What we are living through there is beyond imagination .”
The harrowing experience that (A.N.) went through reflects the enormity of the crimes that women in the Gaza Strip were subjected to over two years of war of extermination and aggression, which calls for legal, human rights and media documentation on the one hand, and the provision of psychological support programs on the other .
Crimes that go beyond (A.N.)… Numbers reveal the depth of the disaster
Prisoner support organizations reveal that what women are subjected to is not individual cases, but rather part of a systematic policy after October 7, 2023 .
The West Bank recorded the following as of last October :
20,500 arrests
595 women
More than 1,630 children
As for the detainees in Gaza, their numbers are unknown due to deliberate enforced disappearance .
Prisoner support organizations confirm that the atrocities committed against prisoners and detainees after the genocide have exceeded all bounds of imagination, starting with systematic torture, starvation, medical crimes, and sexual assaults, including rape. They point out that testimonies and statements continue to reveal new details and more serious and cruel information daily regarding the form of the ongoing genocide within the occupation prisons .
Human rights experts: Widespread and systematic sexual torture
Majda Shehadeh, director of the Women’s Unit at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, explained to Wafa that the conditions of detention and methods of torture changed radically after October 7, 2023, including systematic sexual torture to break the will of male and female prisoners and break their personalities .
She points out that the relationship of detainees with their families after release becomes very difficult due to psychological trauma, especially if the assaults were sexual, which leaves deep effects on the wife and children .
Shehadeh explained that the violations included stripping prisoners of their clothes and depriving them of sleep and food, as well as using physical and psychological violence, with a focus on trying to destroy their will and human dignity. She stressed the need to implement intensive treatment programs that include the family, and to provide psychological, social and legal support, including group sessions for psychotherapy and the exchange of experiences .
For his part, Yasser Abdel Ghafour, Deputy Director of Field Research at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, told WAFA that the center adopts the “Istanbul Protocol” to document torture and violations, which includes individual interviews, forensic medical examination, review of evidence, and documentation of detention conditions, noting that it received testimonies from detainees released after October 7, 2023, which included rape, forced nudity, and sexual abuse .
He adds that the occupying state bears direct responsibility, and its political and military leaders face individual criminal responsibility under the Rome Statute .
He emphasizes that these violations are classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity if they are practiced on a wide and systematic basis, and that the occupying state has adopted a systematic policy of sexual torture, including rape, stripping and forced filming, as part of the crime of genocide against citizens in the Gaza Strip .
He affirms that the center provides comprehensive files to the International Criminal Court, works to protect victims and witnesses, and ensures comprehensive medical, psychological and legal care after release, while maintaining the confidentiality of the victims’ identity and safety .
98 martyrs among the prisoners… and the real number is higher
In a report published on its website, the Israeli human rights organization Physicians for Human Rights reveals that 94 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli occupation prisons during the past two years as a result of the policy of torture and denial of medical care, adding that this number is unprecedented and is believed to be much lower than the actual number, due to the policy of enforced disappearance since October 2023 .
The report indicates that preliminary findings from autopsy reports released by detainees’ families, along with testimonies gathered by lawyers who visited the prisons, point to a consistent pattern of severe violence, including head injuries, internal bleeding, and broken ribs. In other cases, serious medical neglect was documented, including cases of acute malnutrition and denial of life-saving treatment .
Meanwhile, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Abdullah Al-Zaghari, confirms that the occupation authorities’ admission to “Physicians for Human Rights” of the martyrdom of 94 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the occupation’s prisons and camps since the start of the war of extermination until August 2025, and then the registration of four others after that and their announcement to raise the number to 98 martyrs, clearly indicates that the real number is higher than what was announced and exceeds one hundred, and it is not a final number .
He emphasizes that these data represent a new indicator and further confirmation of the enormity of the ongoing crime against prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons, who are subjected to another form of extermination, based on the atrocities and grave violations documented by dozens of Palestinian institutions and human rights organizations within the 1948 territories .
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