Torture During the Gaza War

Returned Israeli hostages described physical and psychological abuse in Gaza, including sexual assault, inadequate food and water, and denial of medical treatment.[7] Palestinian detainees released from Israeli custody described severe assaults, sexual harassment, threats, prolonged restraints, and deprivation of basic necessities.[2][8] These accounts concern different perpetrators, detention settings, and bodies of evidence: captivity under Hamas and other captors in Gaza, on the one hand, and detention by Israeli military and prison authorities, on the other.[2][9]

The evidence includes first-hand accounts, clinical observations, official health information, and investigations by international bodies and human-rights organizations.[2][10] A UN mission concerning hostages found “clear and convincing information” that some captives experienced conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and sexualized torture.[11] Investigations concerning Palestinian detainees drew substantially on interviews after release, supplemented by witnesses, official information, medical material, and reporting.[12]

The subject also encompasses violence against Palestinians inside Gaza by Hamas members and other perpetrators.[13] An inquiry into violence during 2024–2025 identified executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking, and beatings, including incidents presented by perpetrators as punishment for alleged collaboration with Israel or other offenses.[13] Legal and institutional responses included military-police investigations and military-court proceedings.[5][3] Israeli government submissions and international inquiries also documented allegations and their health effects.[10][14]

The captivity described in Israeli medical reporting began with abductions on October 7, 2023, during which some hostages sustained bullet or shrapnel wounds, physical assaults, and attempted lynchings; some also witnessed family members being murdered.[1] Subsequent assessments drew on people released in the November 2023 deal and others rescued in Israeli operations.[15] Medical and welfare personnel working with these survivors supplied information about their captivity and its consequences.[15]

During Israeli operations in Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians suspected of belonging to Hamas or supporting terrorists were arrested, including under the Unlawful Combatants Law.[7] Amendments after October 7 extended authorities’ ability to hold detainees without charge, trial, or access to counsel.[16] Sde Teiman served as a military detention facility for Palestinians taken from Gaza while decisions were made about transfer to the Israel Prison Service or release.[17]

Accounts of alleged abuse emerged during the first months of the war.[2] Poet Mosab Abu Toha reported being stripped, beaten, and humiliated before his release on November 21, 2023.[2] Men detained in northern Gaza in December described beatings during interrogation, including blows to the genitals.[2] Some also reported being required to hold their hands above their heads for hours at a military facility and being beaten if they lowered them.[2]

By May 2024, allegations about Sde Teiman had become the subject of detailed reporting based on Israeli employees and released Palestinian detainees.[17] On May 27, Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi said approximately 70 suspected violations of the laws of war were under military investigation.[3] Those investigations encompassed detention conditions and deaths in military custody as well as civilian deaths, violence, property offenses, and looting; the figure therefore did not represent 70 torture investigations.[3]

International and domestic reporting continued through 2024 and 2025, alongside legal proceedings.[18][5] One reservist was sentenced in February 2025 for abuse committed while guarding detainees at Sde Teiman between January and June 2024.[5] A separate indictment against five Force 100 reservists was cancelled in March 2026 following an assessment of evidentiary and procedural difficulties.[6]

A health assessment published on August 12, 2025, concerning 12 freed hostages described prolonged confinement in underground tunnels, sometimes in spaces of about two square metres with insufficient height to stand.[1] Survivors described injuries, respiratory and intestinal illnesses left untreated, severe nutritional deficiencies, social isolation, and threats to their lives.[1] The assessment characterized the combination of abuse, medical neglect, and subhuman conditions as torture and connected the duration and conditions of captivity with difficulties in rehabilitation and reintegration.[1]

An earlier assessment, compiled in December 2024 from testimonies of released and rescued hostages, described people held in darkness with their hands and feet bound, beaten, and given little food or water.[10] Some adults and children reported sexual assault, while other accounts described burns or branding with heated metal.[10] Injured captives described painful medical procedures without anesthesia, and elderly captives reportedly went without medication for pre-existing conditions.[10] Restrictions on bathroom use accompanied inadequate food, water, and hygiene.[10]

A December 23, 2024, Israeli government submission concerning returned hostages stated that approximately half described deliberate starvation.[10] It associated malnutrition with average losses of 8–15 kilograms, or 10–17 percent of body weight.[10] Children lost an average of 10 percent, and one girl reportedly lost 18 percent.[10] Poor-quality food and water, unsanitary surroundings, and limited opportunities to shower were linked to infections and other health problems.[10] The submission also described weight loss, hygiene-related illness, anxiety, and panic after release.[10]

The submission included accounts concerning two children held together who said they had been bound and beaten throughout captivity, with scars and marks consistent with trauma.[10] Two young children had burns on their lower limbs, and one described deliberate branding with a heated object.[10] Another returned hostage reported sexual assault at gunpoint, while other accounts described women being forced to undress in front of onlookers.[10] The broader submission also described hair-pulling, isolation, and deterioration of untreated chronic medical conditions.[10]

Named survivors provided additional accounts.[19][20] In January 2024, Aviva Siegel told a Knesset caucus that she had witnessed a female hostage being tortured beside her.[19] She also described another captive returning from a bathroom distressed and withdrawn, leading Siegel to believe that a guard had touched her; she did not identify the woman.[19] Amit Soussana described being held alone with an iron chain around her ankle and sexually assaulted at gunpoint by a Hamas captor.[20] After being moved, she said, she was hung upside down, beaten, and humiliated.[20] Andrey Kozlov described being bound at his hands and feet during his first two months in captivity and being beaten.[20]

A UN mission found clear and convincing information that some hostages had experienced rape and sexualized torture and identified reasonable grounds to believe that sexual violence might still be occurring at the time of its work.[11] Its evidence included first-hand accounts of released hostages, and it interviewed 34 people overall.[11] Separately, returned hostages testified during the reporting period covering 2024 that they had been sexually abused or had witnessed sexual abuse of others, alongside physical and psychological abuse and inadequate food, water, and medical care.[7]

Children’s experiences were examined in a peer-reviewed qualitative study of recorded media interviews with 18 released Israeli children and youths aged 8–18.[21] The analysis identified harsh environmental conditions, emotional abuse, medical neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse as themes in their accounts.[21] It examined experiences conveyed in interviews rather than conducting a clinical assessment of every child held captive.[21]

Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s account of her son Hersh’s captivity describes his confinement first in a civilian home and later in tunnels.[22] Her account states that he was starved and tortured for 328 days before being killed with five other hostages, and that the returned bodies bore signs of torture and close-range bullet wounds.[22] At the end of 2024, close to 100 hostages remained held by Hamas, including seven U.S. citizens.[16]

Palestinian detainees held during operations in Gaza reported severe assaults, beatings to the genitals, deprivation of food, water, and toilet facilities, forced nudity, exposure to cold, sexual harassment, and threats of rape or physical harm.[2] Other reported methods included sleep deprivation, cigarette burns, and electric shocks.[2] Human-rights organizations also described intimidation and humiliation affecting children and adults of both sexes.[2]

Accounts concerning interrogation included prolonged stress positions, painful pressure from restraints, incommunicado detention, threats against families, religious humiliation, and exposure to extreme heat or cold.[8] Descriptions of interrogation cells included insect infestations, unsanitary conditions, and inadequate food and water.[8] Israeli authorities acknowledged using methods termed “exceptional measures” in some interrogations, but the Ministry of Justice did not disclose how often they were used or specify the methods involved.[8] The acknowledgment of violent interrogation methods under that terminology also appeared in reporting covering 2024.[7]

A human-rights assessment issued in early 2024 described severe food shortages, poor hygiene and health conditions, and injuries left untreated among Palestinian detainees.[23] It included children, older people, and women, and characterized some reported violence as potentially amounting to torture or other ill-treatment.[23] Its accounts included incommunicado detention, rape threats, deprivation of food and water, and confinement without clothing or toilet access.[23]

A July 2024 investigation drew primarily on interviews with released Palestinian detainees and other victims and witnesses, together with information from government offices, UN agencies, and media.[12] Those described included men, adolescent boys, women, doctors, and people identifying as journalists or human-rights workers.[12] Reported methods included waterboarding, electric shocks, beatings, cigarette burns, sleep deprivation, prolonged blindfolding, food and water deprivation, and attacks by dogs.[12] Some interviewees described cage-like facilities, being stripped and left in diapers, or being suspended from ceilings by tied hands.[12]

Sde Teiman reporting drew on Israeli employees as well as Palestinian former detainees.[17] Employees described detainees being kept blindfolded and restrained, required to sit upright and remain silent, and punished for speaking.[17] One Israeli interviewee described beatings as revenge rather than intelligence gathering.[17] Reporting described detention compounds and a field hospital in which injured detainees were allegedly tied to beds, wore diapers, and ate through straws.[17]

Employees further alleged that prolonged restraints caused serious injuries, including an amputation, and that some medical procedures were performed by personnel who said they lacked relevant training.[17] The military denied unlawful restraint, said medical procedures were conducted carefully and in accordance with Israeli and international law, and stated that restraint decisions depended on security risk and health.[17] It also said detainees’ clothing was retained until assessed for security risks.[17]

In August 2024, interviews with 55 Palestinians released from Israeli custody formed the basis of allegations of systematic abuse across prison facilities.[18] The interviewees came from Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and most reportedly had not been tried for a crime.[18] The allegations included physical and psychological violence, starvation, withholding water, denial of medical treatment, sleep deprivation, humiliation, and sexual violence.[18] The Israel Prison Service said prisoners’ rights were provided and it was unaware of the alleged events, while the military rejected allegations of systematic abuse and said claims were examined.[18]

Reported deaths in custody accompanied these concerns.[2][7] Four human-rights organizations highlighted 19 reported cases of severe abuse after October 7 during the period covered by reporting for 2023, including six deaths: four people from the West Bank and two from Gaza.[2] They raised concern that abuse or medical neglect might have contributed to several deaths, and investigations were reportedly opened.[2] Reporting covering 2024 recorded at least 43 Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody based on Palestinian Authority and nongovernmental accounts.[7]

A separate July 2024 assessment reported 53 custody deaths; associated coverage described 35 deaths under military investigation and information indicating 17 deaths in prison-service custody.[12] A later review recorded 75 Palestinian deaths during the war and raised concerns about severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, simulated drowning, stress positions, sexual violence, denial of medical care, and excessive restraints.[4] Israeli government representatives denied using torture and said detention conditions were adequate and supervised.[4]

In October 2025, Nasser Hospital said some of 45 returned Palestinian bodies showed signs of torture and had bound hands, while the circumstances and timing of death were not immediately clear.[24] Released Palestinians also described frequent beatings, inadequate food, and lack of medical care.[24] Israel said prisoner treatment followed domestic and international standards and reported violations were investigated; the prison service said it was unaware of the specific claims discussed and maintained that medical access and inmates’ rights were upheld.[24]

On February 6, 2025, a military court sentenced an Israeli reservist who admitted grave abuse of detainees while serving as a guard at Sde Teiman between January and June 2024.[5] He beat bound and blindfolded detainees with his fists and weapon, forced them to make statements and animal sounds, and recorded the conduct on his phone.[5] The sentence comprised seven months’ imprisonment, less 80 days already served, a suspended term, and demotion.[5] The court emphasized that soldiers must act according to military values and orders even when opposing forces commit extremely horrific acts violating basic moral values.[5]

A separate Sde Teiman investigation concerned suspected sexual and collective abuse of a detainee by reserve soldiers.[25] The suspected offenses were described in legal terminology as sodomy in coercive circumstances, causing injury with aggravated intent, collective abuse in aggravating circumstances, and inappropriate behavior; some soldiers also faced suspicions of assaulting and obstructing a public servant.[25] By August 2024, five soldiers were being investigated over alleged sexual abuse.[26] In spring 2025, five soldiers were reported to have been charged over an alleged severe beating of a Hamas prisoner who suffered broken ribs and bleeding from a rectal wound.[27]

In March 2026, the Military Advocate General ordered cancellation of the indictment against five Force 100 reservists.[6] The reasons cited included the complexity of the available evidence, the detainee’s release to Gaza and its evidentiary implications, conduct by senior prosecution and law-enforcement officials, and procedural difficulties transferring relevant investigative materials.[6] This was separate from the conviction of the guard sentenced in February 2025.[5][6]

The military justice framework involved the Military Advocate General, the Military Police Criminal Investigative Unit for Operational Affairs, and military courts.[25] Soldiers could be brought before courts martial, with convicted defendants able to appeal to the Military Court of Appeals.[25] The legal analysis accompanying this account stated that no rule permits sexual or collective abuse of prisoners or captives and that an order requiring such abuse would be manifestly illegal.[25] Reporting covering 2024 also described several credible government steps to identify officials responsible for human-rights abuses, with multiple trials pending at year’s end.[7]

International inquiries addressed both hostage captivity and Palestinian detention.[14][28] A Commission of Inquiry examination covering the conflict through December 2023 found that Israel and Hamas committed war crimes including torture, murder or willful killing, outrages upon personal dignity, and inhuman or cruel treatment.[14] Its material included victim and witness interviews, hundreds of submissions, satellite imagery, medical reports, and verified open-source information.[14] An October 2024 inquiry statement separately accused both sides of involvement in torture and sexual violence in the treatment of hostages and detainees.[28]

An inquiry into violence inside Gaza during 2024–2025 identified 249 cases of executions and severe physical violence, resulting in at least 108 deaths and 384 injuries.[13] Hamas members were involved in at least 60 incidents, including two public executions of 11 men.[13] Reported methods included kneecapping and breaking bones with metal pipes or cement bricks.[13] Perpetrators presented punishments as responses to alleged collaboration with Israel, aid looting, theft, drug offenses, or affiliation with internal rivals; the inquiry characterized the acts as war crimes of murder and torture.[13]

Medical reporting connected prolonged hostage captivity with nutritional deficiencies, illness, anxiety, panic, and difficulties returning to ordinary life.[1][10] The assessment of 12 freed hostages explicitly linked captivity’s duration and conditions to rehabilitation and reintegration.[1] The December 2024 medical compilation omitted names, ages, and family statuses to protect survivors’ identities.[15]

Public reactions to the Sde Teiman investigation included demonstrations around the Sde Teiman and Beit Lid bases.[25] Civilians, including Knesset members, assembled there, and some entered the bases by force.[25] Reported opposition to the investigation included views that the alleged abuse represented revenge, objections to investigating soldiers during wartime, and skepticism toward allegations made by a detainee described as a terrorist.[26] Discussion of these events addressed military values, command responsibility, and public confidence in military institutions.[25]

Restrictions on outside access affected both hostage captivity and Israeli detention.[2] After October 7, Hamas did not grant the International Committee of the Red Cross access to Israeli and international hostages apart from handovers during a humanitarian pause.[2] Israeli authorities likewise did not permit the organization or human-rights groups to visit detention facilities in Israel, Gaza, or the West Bank during the reporting period.[2] Continued denial of access to hostages also appeared in reporting covering 2024.[9] These restrictions limited independent monitoring of conditions and detainees’ or hostages’ welfare.[2]

A central dispute concerned allegations that mistreatment in Israeli custody reflected an intentional policy.[29] Israel rejected the Commission of Inquiry’s findings and challenged its impartiality, while the commission said Israel obstructed its work and prevented access to Israel and the West Bank.[14] Criticism of the inquiry also maintained that it disregarded Israeli investigations and wrongly alleged intentional harm to Palestinian detainees as policy.[29]

The evidentiary status of survivor testimony, medical observations, investigative findings, criminal charges, and court judgments was not interchangeable.[5][6] The child-hostage study acknowledged methodological limitations.[21] The UN hostage mission described difficulties accessing survivors and witnesses, while the Israeli health submission did not fully explain its data-collection methods.[11][10] The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs also quoted allegations concerning rape and rape threats against Palestinian female detainees, rather than independently establishing those incidents.[30]

Custody-death figures covered different periods and sources and did not themselves establish torture as the cause of death.[2][7] Likewise, cancellation of the five reservists’ indictment was a procedural outcome, not a judicial finding that the alleged conduct did not occur; the separate guard’s conviction established abuse in that specific case, not its prevalence throughout Sde Teiman.[5][6]