Testimonies of Survival: Robbed of Humanity
The survivors of these camps carry lifelong physical and psychological scars. Mohammed Zaki Al-Bakri, a civilian education employee from Hamad City in Khan Younis, was abducted in March 2024.
Upon his arrest, he was stripped of his name, assigned the number "42," and viciously beaten if he answered to his real name.
Mohammed testified to being raped by female soldiers and later by a large military attack dog.
After surviving 15 months of torture across multiple prisons, he was released only to discover that his beloved wife, Alaa, and some of his children had been martyred in an airstrike while sheltering in Deir al-Balah.
Palestinian women are also primary targets of this horrific systemic abuse. Shereen, a youth activist from the West Bank who was detained in October 2024, detailed the severe psychological and sexual terror inflicted upon female prisoners.
She was subjected to humiliating strip searches where she was forced to squat repeatedly while being mocked and filmed by soldiers.
She testified to experiencing violent sexual harassment and assault by guards.
This deliberate stripping of privacy and bodily autonomy is designed to erase their existence as human beings.
A Deliberate State Policy of Genocide
International legal experts, including UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, confirm that this extreme brutality is a staple of the Israeli custodial system.
It is not the work of a few rogue individuals, but a widespread, systematic, and institutionalized policy.
The primary goal of these practices is not to extract intelligence, but to suppress, control, and terrorize the Palestinian population into forced displacement.
Historically, these exact tactics of sexual violence were utilized during the 1948 Nakba, such as during the Tantura massacre, demonstrating a long-standing colonial strategy to dominate the indigenous population.
Total Impunity and Public Celebration
Perhaps the most disturbing element of this genocide is the complete lack of accountability and the societal celebration of these war crimes.
Soldiers who commit rape and torture are frequently glorified as "heroes" by various segments of Israeli society.
Senior politicians, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, have openly defended and praised these soldiers on national television and across social media platforms.
The Israeli military justice system actively shields perpetrators; investigations are rarely launched, and when they are, they serve only as a legal cover to prevent international intervention.
The Silence of International Justice
Despite the overwhelming evidence—including medical reports of shattered bodies and testimonies of the systematic rape of men, women, and even children—the international community remains largely paralyzed.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has failed to prosecute these specific crimes of sexual violence and torture.
Powerful Western nations continue to supply the weapons and diplomatic cover that allow these genocidal practices to continue without consequence.
For the survivors, the fight for justice continues amidst profound grief. As one survivor noted, the resilience and steadfastness (Sumud) of the Palestinian people remains their greatest defiance against an occupier intent on their absolute destruction.
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