Activists back report on Israeli sexualized violence against Palestinians

A new report from the Palestinian Feminist Collective says Israeli forces have used sexualized and gendered violence against Palestinians in a systematic way from 1948 to the present. Supporters say the findings strengthen calls for accountability and add to allegations of genocide and war crimes.

Why it matters: - The report argues that sexualized and gendered violence is not isolated misconduct, but part of a broader system affecting Palestinian detention, family life, reproduction and mourning. - The authors say the evidence supports claims that Israel’s destruction of conditions necessary for Palestinian life meets globally accepted definitions of genocide. - Prominent activists and public figures, including Angela Davis, Greta Thunberg and Jeremy Corbyn, highlighted the report as a tool for accountability.

What happened: - The Palestinian Feminist Collective published A Predatory State: Israeli Systemic Sexualized and Gendered Violence Against Palestinians on June 30, 2026. - Progressive International supported the report. - The research was conducted from December 2025 through April 2026. - The report is now available in Spanish, Arabic, German, French, Italian and English. - The release says the report covers Israeli violence against Palestinians from the Nakba of 1948 to the present.

The details: - The report draws on survivor and witness testimony, declassified Israeli archives, Palestinian oral histories, academic research, documentary evidence, media reporting, human rights documentation and United Nations reports and statements. - It cites Palestinian testimony describing sexual torture in Israeli detention, including the Sde Teiman scandal. - The report links detention abuse to wider patterns that include warfare, surveillance, reproductive destruction, family separation and domicide. - The authors say evidence of repeated methods across multiple sites points to institutional practice rather than individual misconduct. - The report says Israeli security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza since 2023, reinforcing a June 2026 UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry report. - The report also cites sources describing war crimes against Palestinian children in the West Bank involving torture, including sexual and gender-based violence, in detention. - The report’s main findings include sexualized violence in detention, historical continuity since 1948, reproductive destruction in Gaza, sexualized blackmail and coercion under a policy described as “esqat,” AI-assisted home destruction, violence after death, and the denial of Palestinian testimony. - Detention abuses described in the report include forced nudity, sexual humiliation, genital torture, simulated rape, rape with objects and rape by trained dogs. - Historical records cited in the report describe sexualized violence as a tool of displacement, humiliation, terror and domination since the 1948 Nakba. - The report says Israel’s assault on reproductive health in Gaza includes destruction of medical infrastructure and denial of water, fuel, food and medicine. - The section on “esqat” describes alleged sexualized blackmail, surveillance and honeytraps used to recruit informants through threats of exposure or fabricated allegations. - The report says AI targeting systems such as “Lavender,” “Where’s Daddy” and “The Gospel” have been used to destroy Palestinian homes in ways that function as gendered violence against family life, kinship and memory. - The report says withholding and desecration of Palestinian bodies extends violence into burial and mourning. - The report says Palestinian testimony is often dismissed or obstructed because of sealed archives, destroyed evidence, social stigma and fear of retaliation within Israeli legal, medical and forensic systems. - Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, called the research a system of domination, oppression and erasure. - Layla Hazaineh, Progressive International’s Arab World Coordinator, called the report a landmark indictment of the Israeli state. - PFC member Loubna Qutami said the violence described in the report is a method of Israel’s colonial project, not an anomaly or excess of war.

Between the lines: - The report is designed to shift the discussion from individual incidents to pattern, structure and state practice. - By tying detention abuse to reproduction, home destruction and treatment of the dead, the authors frame sexualized violence as part of a larger campaign against Palestinian social continuity. - The inclusion of international figures and multilingual publication suggests the authors want the findings to travel beyond activist circles and into diplomatic, legal and media debates.

What's next: - The report is likely to be cited in advocacy campaigns, human rights efforts and legal arguments focused on alleged war crimes and genocide. - Public attention from high-profile supporters may increase pressure for further investigations and documentation. - The multilingual rollout could broaden uptake among journalists, researchers and organizers across regions. - Social media channels for the Palestinian Feminist Collective were listed as further points of contact for updates and distribution.