During UN-backed hearings in Geneva, Palestinian detainees recounted severe abuses by Israeli forces, including physical beatings, starvation, and mistreatment while naked. The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, led by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, was established by the Human Rights Council and could potentially provide evidence for the International Criminal Court. Israel has denied these abuse claims and refused to cooperate with the commission, alleging bias. Testimonies included detention experiences of physical and sexual violence. The commission is expected to release a report detailing systematic sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians. The commission has faced challenges in gaining accounts from Israeli victims due to alleged obstruction by the Israeli government.
In February 2024, UN experts expressed alarm over credible allegations of egregious human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Reports indicated that Palestinian women and girls were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), including denial of menstruation pads, food, and medicine, as well as severe beatings, rape, assault, and other forms of sexual violence. Some were stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers, and at least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped.
A detailed investigative report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory in June 2024 concluded that both Israel and Hamas had committed sexual violence and torture, along with intentional attacks on civilians. The report highlighted that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is deployed by Israeli forces and civilians against Palestinian women and men throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. It stated that the frequency, prevalence, and severity of these crimes indicate that specific forms of SGBV are part of Israeli Security Forces’ operating procedures. 