Palestinian Journo Recounts Physical Abuse by “Israeli” Guards at “Megiddo” Prison

By Staff, Agencies

Palestinian journalist Sami Al-Sa’i has delivered harrowing testimony describing his rape and abuse at the hands of “Israeli” prison guards at “Megiddo” Prison, a notorious detention center north of “Tel Aviv”.

Recently released after 16 months of imprisonment without charge, Al-Sa’i recounted being raped upon arrival at the facility. “They forced me onto my hands with my face and knees on the floor and began beating me,” he said. “They started inserting hard objects into my rectum… all while laughing, mocking, and insulting me.”

He added that the injuries caused him to bleed from his rectum for 22 days, during which he was denied medical treatment. “Because I didn’t want to talk to the other detainees about what had happened, I asked for tissues … and I began twisting them into strips and inserting them into my rectum to absorb the blood and stop it from leaking out. This went on for about 22 days.”

Al-Sa’i also spoke of the widespread neglect and abuse of other prisoners, including those suffering from scabies. He noted that “Israeli” guards ignored pleas for help until the disease began spreading to them during routine beatings and court transfers, at which point limited treatment was finally administered.

His account comes amid mounting evidence of systemic torture, sexual abuse, and humiliation of Palestinian detainees in “Israeli” custody since the war on Gaza began on October 7.

In a separate incident, video footage surfaced in August 2024 showing “Israeli” soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev desert.

The footage led to the arrest of ten reservists from Force 100—a unit tasked with guarding the facility—on July 29. Despite the arrest, mobs of far-right settlers, including government ministers, stormed the prison the same day to show support for the accused rapists.

“Israeli” "National Security" Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir condemned the arrest, telling local media it was “shameful” to punish “our best heroes.”

In another shocking exchange, Knesset member Ahmad Tibi asked Likud MP Hanoch Milwidsky whether it was acceptable to “insert a stick into a person’s rectum”. Milwidsky replied: “If he is a Nukhba [Hamas fighter], everything is legitimate to do! Everything!”

The journalist’s account echoes the findings of Welcome to Hell, a report published last August by the “Israeli” group B’Tselem. Based on interviews with 55 Palestinian detainees held since October 7, the report documents systematic beatings, verbal abuse and sexual violence in “Israeli” prisons. Many of the prisoners, who were later released without charge, described inhumane conditions and repeated assaults.

Rights organizations have condemned what they describe as a widespread policy of collective punishment and dehumanization of Palestinians in “Israeli” custody, warning that such practices may constitute war crimes under international law.