Adalah Demands Criminal Investigation into Sexual Assault and Rape of Gaza-Bound Humanitarian Flotilla Activist - a German Journalist - by Israeli Prison Guards in October 2025

On 1 June 2026, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel submitted a complaint to the Israeli Attorney General, the Israel Prison Service’'s Legal Advisor, the Department for the Investigation of Prison Guards (YAHAS), and the commander of Givon Prison demanding a criminal investigation into the sexual assault and rape of a humanitarian activist, A.L., a German journalist, who was part of a flotilla convoy headed to the Gaza Strip in October 2025. A.L 's testimony concerns events that took place following the interception of the ships that sought to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and challenge the unlawful blockade on the Strip. 

A.L. described severe violence during her detention. As stated in Adalah’s letter: “During her transfer from the port to Ketziot Prison, our client, together with other participants, was subjected to physical and verbal violence by Israeli security forces and prison staff, including prolonged restraint, the use of plastic zip ties, blindfolding, shouting, threats—including threats of rape—and physical assaults.”

Upon her arrival at Givon Prison, A.L. experienced further severe violence, followed by sexual assault and rape. A.L. described how prison guards ordered her to undress while male prison officers watched from behind a curtain. When she refused to remove her clothing, the guards forcibly pulled at her clothes until she was compelled to undress. While standing completely naked, the guards forced her to kneel, and one of the guards inserted her fingers into the activist’s vagina and subsequently into her anus. The activist testified that she could hear the male officers laughing during the sexual assault and rape.

Adalah demanded the immediate opening of a criminal investigation into these acts, stating: “The gravity and illegality of the acts described are clear and leave no room for doubt. These constitute acts of rape, sexual violence, and severe assault, requiring the immediate opening of a criminal investigation against all those involved and their prosecution.”

The letter further notes that additional women who participated in the same flotilla (October 2025) contacted A.L. after she publicly shared her testimony and reported that they, too, had experienced similar assaults, some of which amount to sexual assault. These reports raise serious concerns that severe sexual violence against women detainees by Israeli authorities constitutes a systematic pattern of conduct that has not been investigated.

These testimonies join a series of grave accounts received by Adalah in recent weeks as part of the legal assistance provided to participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted after departing from the Turkish coast last month in May 2026. These testimonies also included reports of sexual violence, physical violence, humiliation, and abuse during detention.

According to Adalah, “The seriousness of this testimony stems not only from the nature of the acts described, but also from the fact that they allegedly occurred within an official and supervised detention facility. Sexual violence in places of detention cannot be regarded as merely an exceptional or isolated act, but rather as a grave institutional violation of human dignity and fundamental rights. The authorities must conduct an effective and impartial investigation, particularly after the United Nations last week included Israel on its list of states and actors implicated in conflict-related sexual violence, following allegations concerning the conduct of prison authorities and security forces toward Palestinian detainees.”

Adalah added that: “The authorities’ failure to open investigations thus far into abuses against activists, despite receiving detailed testimonies, has created conditions that enable the continuation and escalation of such acts. Where there are suspicions of sexual offenses in places of detention, the authorities are under a legal obligation to act immediately, investigate the incidents, and hold those responsible accountable. The responsibility incumbent upon the authorities today extends beyond securing justice for the survivor in the present case; it also requires a thorough examination of the conditions and policies that made it possible for such grave acts to occur within an official detention facility.”