RAMALLAH — The West Bank Protection Consortium on April 20 released a report titled "Sexual Violence and Forcible Transfer in the West Bank," documenting cases of conflict-related sexual violence in the Palestinian territory over nearly three years. The report found that more than 70 percent of displaced families interviewed said threats against women and children, particularly sexual violence, were a decisive factor in leaving their homes.

The report documented forced nudity, invasive body searches, threats of rape and sexual harassment. It stated that some Palestinian girls have dropped out of school and some Palestinian women have stopped working to reduce the risk of encountering Israelis who might assault or harass them.

On March 13, more than 70 settlers attacked Khirbet Hamsa al-Fawqa in the occupied West Bank's Jordan Valley, dividing into groups to strike Palestinian tents. Five settlers entered the tent of Qusay Abu al-Kabash, 29, while he was asleep and beat him with their hands and sticks, and assaulted two foreign female activists sleeping in the same tent. "The settlers then forcibly removed my pants while tying my hands and feet, binding my body with my belt, and stripping me of my underwear," Qusay said.

The settlers beat his genitals, tied his limbs and genitals with plastic zip ties, and threatened to repeat the assault if he did not leave the area. The assault lasted approximately 45 minutes, during which many residents, including children, reported being beaten and said they were threatened with death if they did not leave immediately. The settlers stole hundreds of livestock and, at the end of the attack, dragged Qusay along the ground without his underwear and beat him across his body, including his eye, which later became swollen. "The psychological effects of the sexual assault on me far outweighed the physical impact," he said.

On April 13, the Israeli army allowed Abeer al-Sabbagh, 60, to enter Jenin refugee camp for a limited time to check on her home after a yearlong closure that followed a deadly weeks-long raid the previous year. Soldiers forced her into a house at the entrance of the camp that they had occupied, where female soldiers conducted a thorough search and ordered her to remove all her clothes. "We didn't know they were going to search us. If I had known, I wouldn't have gone at all," Abeer said. "I felt truly humiliated."

Issa Amro, coordinator of the Youth Against Settlements group in Hebron, said Israel uses sexual harassment as a tool to make life difficult for Palestinian citizens and to retaliate against their presence in areas of friction. He said sexual violence before October 2023 consisted of individual acts by some soldiers but has since become a widespread phenomenon used to harass Palestinian citizens and residents, especially in the Old City of Hebron. "Soldiers force women to undress in front of them at checkpoints, try to reach sensitive areas, ask them sexual questions, and make sexual innuendos," Amro said. He added that many Palestinian families have left their homes and many women avoid crossing Israeli checkpoints to avoid being humiliated.

Israel says cases of sexual violence by its soldiers are isolated incidents and not part of a wider policy. Five soldiers were charged after footage emerged of the sexual abuse of a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman prison, and those charges were dropped in March.