RAMALLAH, July 14, 2026 (WAFA) -- Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups and former detainees on Tuesday launched an international campaign in Ramallah aimed at documenting and raising awareness of sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

The campaign was announced during a press conference in Ramallah, where former prisoners and relatives of detainees shared testimonies describing rape and sexual abuse in Israeli detention facilities. Organizers explained that the abuses have become systematic since October 7, 2023, and called for international investigations and accountability.

Yousef Amayra, a former prisoner and the campaign's general coordinator, said the initiative follows three years of collecting testimonies and documenting alleged abuses. He urged former detainees who experienced sexual violence to come forward and said legal committees comprising lawyers, judges and specialists would be established in countries around the world to pursue accountability.

Head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Raed Abu Al-Hummus, described the sexual violence against prisoners as a "silent genocide," while Amin Shoman, head of the Higher National Commission for Follow-up of Prisoners' Affairs, said the campaign was launched in response to an unprecedented increase in cases of sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners since October 2023.

Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoner's Society, said prisoner advocacy groups and human rights organizations have documented extensive testimonies over the past three years that they say constitute evidence of systematic abuses against Palestinian detainees.

The organizers called on the international community to investigate sexual violence in Israeli prisons, hold those responsible accountable, and provide medical and psychological support for survivors and their families.

M.N