EU foreign ministers have failed to agree on sanctions against Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says.
“Many member states have also proposed to sanction Minister Ben-Gvir, but no consensus on that was reached,” Kallas said.
It was April 10, 2024, during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The Gaza civil servant had been beaten, tortured, bound and forced to soil himself since his arrest by Israeli soldiers a month earlier.
The soldiers and their guard dogs surrounded him that day. “There were six soldiers on the right and six on the left,” he recalled. “They would ask your name. If you said ‘Muhammad’, they would say, ‘No, say your name is b****.’”
Al-Bakri said he was held with seven other prisoners. They were all stripped, blindfolded and handcuffed.
“We were raped after being stripped of our clothes,” he said. “We were shouting, ‘Oh Lord, oh God’, but they were just laughing and filming us.” Al-Bakri then echoed what several rights agencies have also reported – that guards also used dogs during the sexual abuse of prisoners. “The dogs were following commands from the officers to [attack] us,” he said.
“There was no mercy. We stayed in that state of sexual abuse and beatings for about 20 minutes to half an hour. Then they told us to get dressed and took us back to the prison.”
(May 22, 2026)
NEWARK — Roughly 300 people detained at migrant jail Delaney Hall began a hunger and labor strike to bring attention to what they call the detrimental conditions and treatment they say they face behind bars.
For two hours near a tent outside the Doremus Avenue detention center Friday morning, people shared their stories of loved ones who are detained inside. Gabriela Soto translated calls from prisoners, including one from her husband, Martin, who has been held there since February.
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Shortly after their calls with advocates, guards cut access to phones and tablets inside.
(May 12, 2026)
We feel vulnerable and, in a way, kidnapped —detained without justification— not to mention that we are being tortured physically and psychologically due to the poor food resources provided in these detention centers. We see with deep helplessness and frustration that our due process, rights, and defense have been violated, disregarding benefits granted under the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments of the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. Families are being destroyed and separated, where there are children, nieces, and minors who are suffering a very strong psychological impact because they do not understand the situation, and in some cases they have witnessed the arrests of their relatives, who have been struck by tragedy and the economic burden, since in most cases we are heads of household.
(May 27, 2026)
Yet proposals that skirt the edges of international law didn’t come out of nowhere. The U.S. under George W. Bush created legal mechanisms following the September 11th attacks to torture hundreds of people in CIA black sites and then at Guantanamo Bay. The Obama administration’s targeted drone strikes were assassinations by another name. The Biden administration further eroded international norms and subverted its own policies by financing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in violation of the Leahy Law, which prohibits foreign military assistance to nations that violate human rights.
“Seems like Miller is sort of taking what he was already willing to do during the first term and then combining that with what Israel has been doing in the way it has just been completely ignoring any kind of international law, Geneva Conventions, any of it in its conduct in Gaza and Lebanon, to then influence U.S. foreign policy,” Annelle Sheline, a research fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in an interview.
In other words, Miller and the Trump administration have been able to steamroll what was left of international law; they just had to figure out how to do it.
That vessel, the amphibious landing ship INS Nahshon, was built by Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding in Louisiana and was fully financed by the US government. GSF activists first became aware of what they now call the “torture boat” when it was used to detain members of the previous Gaza-bound flotilla, dozens of whom required medical attention for broken ribs, noses, and other injuries inflicted by Israeli forces.
This time, according to GSF, “detained humanitarians, doctors, and journalists were processed one by one through a darkened shipping container. Inside, groups of three to five soldiers systematically brutalized each person who came through the door while those waiting outside listened to the screams.”
May 24, 2026 INTERNATIONAL – As civilian participants from the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) begin landing in their respective home countries and some continue their recovery in Istanbul, the full, devastating scale of the violence executed by the israeli Occupation Forces (iOF) is being laid bare. Following the most recent unlawful interception of the flotilla in international waters on 18 May, newly emerging and harrowing testimonies confirm a coordinated campaign of systematic torture, severe physical and psychological trauma, and targeted gender-based and sexual violence.
(The violence reported in this release covers only the second of two illegal israeli interceptions that took place during the Spring 2026 flotilla mission; the first attack took place on 29 April off the coast of Crete, which also had numerous reports of sexual violence, rape and physical injuries including 35 people requiring medical care for broken noses, ribs and injuries from rubber bullets deployed by it iOF.)
(May 22, 2026)
In what is believed to be the US-built-and-funded INS Nahshon, detainees were “processed” one by one, and taken into darkened containers where groups of iOF commandos brutalised them one by one. Yassine Benjelloun, who had sailed on a previous flotilla mission and expected comparable treatment, described the moment of entry:
„He throws me in a container that is dark, and all of a sudden, I hear, “Welcome to israel. ” And I start getting hit, like first hit on the head, second hit in the ribs, then I fall, then they kick me. And I‘m hearing people screaming, and all of a sudden people stop screaming, and I don‘t see anything, and I don‘t know what‘s going to happen. “ — Yassine Benjelloun
Adrien Berthel, France, described being singled out for targeted humiliation and beating after iOF soldiers noticed he was wearing nail polish and made assumptions about his sexuality.
Veronica Otero, participant number 22 to board, witnessed the processing of nearly all 180 detainees across three days:
„I can say that all were in many ways abused, not one single person walking with nothing. Among them there were 36 fractures, many broken ribs, torso, shoulders, and back. People were in agony. People were not breathing [due to the broken ribs]. „— Veronica Otero
At least 12 sexual assaults have been documented on that vessel alone, including anal rape and forcible penetration by a handgun. iOF soldiers tased volunteers in the face, neck and body, the strikes multiplying with each new group brought in. Multiple volunteers report being photographed during strip searches and guards laughing throughout.
„I was illegally kidnapped by Israel – like 425 other people.“
„Handcuffs on my hands and feet. Dragged me. When I couldn‘t walk, they dragged me on the ground.“
„They hit us. Hurt all of us a lot. Handcuffs so tight my hands lost feeling.“
„They laughed all the time. Super sadistic.“
„Took off my shirt. Took pictures. Mistreated us all night long.“
Then she delivered her message to the world:
„Shame on you. Shame on all of you. Shame on every government that keeps trading with Israel. My government is complicit. Europe is complicit. The whole world is complicit.“
Those genocidal maniacs RAPED humanitarian activist trying to take food and medicine to children in Gaza! And the worst is that even this they escalate to much worse forms with the 9000 Palestinians in israeli dungeons (almost 400 children)!
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He confirms the horrific reality that Arabic and non-white captives were beaten much worse.
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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Congress and the Trump administration to take immediate action after a New York Times report detailed horrifying allegations of widespread sexual abuse, rape, torture, and humiliation of Palestinians held in Israeli detention facilities.
(May 11, 2026)
I‘ve spent some time reporting on widespread rape and other sexual violence of Palestinian male and female prisoners by Israeli authorities, and the article is now published. The assault victims were warned not to give speak of what they endured — they were sometimes told they would be killed or raped if they gave interviews — but they found the courage to do so. One man described being raped three times in a single day in Israeli prison, the third time after he tried to protest. A young woman said the guards would come in at the beginning of each shift and strip her naked and abuse her. Another reported that she was shown photos of herself being raped and warned they would be released unless she cooperated with Israeli intelligence. Even three children who had been detained told me they had been sexually abused. Look, whatever our position on the Middle East, we should be able to agree on being anti-rape. Sexual assaults were horrific when Israeli women were targeted on Oct. 7, and they‘re equally horrific when Israeli authorities use them against Palestinians day after day after day. We should be able to find common ground in opposing rape. Here‘s a gift link to the article:
The article in question, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” by Nicholas Kristof, recounts the stories of 14 Palestinians who experienced sexual violence at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers. A majority of the interviews discuss sexual violence inflicted by soldiers and interrogators on Palestinians in Israeli detention, but others speak of attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank — attacks that are “increasingly protect[ed]” by the Israeli military, according to Kristof. The interviews are reinforced by testimony from Israeli and international human rights organizations, and demonstrate that sexual violence is systemic, used on a daily basis against Palestinians, and effectively Israeli state policy.
(transcript)
I’m appalled by this pattern of abuse, partly because our American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security forces. I fear that leaves us complicit. The United States has leverage, and we could use it to insist on an end to the impunity and to demand that Red Cross visits be restored for Palestinian detainees. Look, whether you consider yourself pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, here’s one thing we should be able to agree on: We’re anti-rape. The horrific abuse inflicted on Israeli women on Oct. 7 now happens to Palestinians day after day after day.
It’s a simple proposition: Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape.
Supporters of Israel made that point after the brutal sexual assaults against Israeli women during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu and many U.S. senators, including Marco Rubio, condemned that sexual violence, and Netanyahu rightly called on “all civilized leaders” to “speak up.”
And yet in wrenching interviews, Palestinians have recounted to me a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.
(February 6, 2019)
Torture became widespread, as shown in the museum’s exhibits. Interrogators all wear ties, a nod to their Western connections. Portraits of the shah, Queen Farah and his son, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who now lives in exile in the U.S., hang above one torture scene
(…)
Sheikhi walked with Associated Press journalists through the prison that once held him, built in the 1930s by German engineers. Black-and-white photographs of its 8,500 prisoners from over the years line the walls. They include current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Sheikhi, then 19, spent about three months in the prison and 11 months in another after being detained for distributing anti-shah statements from Khomeini, then in exile.
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May 17, 2025 #TheGrayzone
Caution: This report contains depictions of simulated violence that may upset some viewers.
Max Blumenthal tours one of the most disturbing museums on the planet.
Set in Tehran‘s former Ebrat Prison run by the anti-sabotage unit of Shah Reza Pahlavi‘s Savak intelligence services, the museum is filled with shockingly graphic exhibits featuring lifelike mannequins recreating the hideous torture tactics deployed to repress dissidents rebelling against Iran‘s monarchy.
Many mannequins on display represent notorious torturers who either fled or were executed after the Islamic revolution in 1979, while others are modeled after famous prisoners locked away in Ebrat like the current Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamanei.
Noch Anfang der 1950er-Jahre wurde Iran wirtschaftlich von Großbritannien ausgebeutet. Nur ein kleiner Teil der enormen Öleinnahmen verblieb im Land. Teherans Opposition, die in weiten Teilen eine Verstaatlichung der Erdölindustrie forderte, gewann an Zulauf. Die Nationale Front aus verschiedenen linken, islamistischen, aber auch liberalen Gruppen einte damals die Ablehnung des Schahs und ausländischer Einflussnahme. Nach der Ermordung des vom Schah installierten Premierministers Ali Razmara durch Islamisten leitete eine Parlamentskommission im März 1951 die Verstaatlichung der iranischen Ölindustrie ein. Ende April 1951 ernannte der Schah den Führer der Nationalen Front, Mohammed Mossadegh (1882-1967), zum Premierminister.
Unter Mossadegh schritt die Verstaatlichung der Ölindustrie schnell voran. Nachdem die Briten fast 50 Jahre lang quasi ein Monopol auf iranisches Erdöl innehatten, mussten sie es nun aus der Hand geben. London setzte daraufhin einen Boykott Irans durch fast alle internationalen Ölgesellschaften durch. Die Folge war eine schwere Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise. Dies änderte zunächst nichts an der Unterstützung Mossadeghs innerhalb der Bevölkerung. Mossadegh erhielt Sondervollmachten durch das Parlament. Nach einem gescheiterten Versuch Rezas, Mossadegh seines Amtes zu entheben, und den darauf folgenden Kämpfen zwischen den beiden Lagern floh der Schah ins Ausland.
Im August 1953 wurde Mossadegh von Teilen der iranischen Armee mit Hilfe des US-amerikanischen Geheimdienstes CIA gestürzt. Der Schah kehrte aus dem Exil zurück. Fortan war Iran ein treuer Verbündeter der Vereinigten Staaten. Der Monarch unterdrückte jede Opposition mit Härte. Ab 1954 teilte sich ein Konsortium westlicher Ölkonzerne die Gewinne aus dem Erdölgeschäft mit der National Iranian Oil Company. Von den Öleinnahmen profitierte jedoch nur ein kleiner Teil der Bevölkerung.
Washington unterstützte den Schah in den 1950er-Jahren bei der Modernisierung seiner Streitkräfte und ab 1957 beim Aufbau des gefürchteten Geheimdiensts SAVAK.
The alliance between Iran’s former monarchists and the Israeli regime – actors united by shared interests – gained further momentum after Pahlavi and his spouse visited the Israeli-occupied territories in April 2024 at the invitation of Netanyahu himself.
The visit marked the formalization of what had long been an informal and deeply troubling relationship.
This relationship was further solidified after the Tel Aviv regime launched an unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Iran in June this year, resulting in the martyrdom of more than 1,000 people, including women and children.
While the Iranian nation mourned its dead, Pahlavi monarchists openly celebrated. Reza Pahlavi offered no words of sympathy for the victims of the 12-day war, laying bare where his loyalties truly lie.
Im Bericht werden einige der in Israel teils seit Jahrzehnten gängigen Folterpraktiken aufgezählt: die Opfer werden oft tage- oder wochenlanger Isolationshaft ausgesetzt, sie werden in käfigähnlichen Einrichtungen festgehalten, über längere Zeit nackt ausgezogen und müssen Windeln tragen. Zudem werden ihre Augen verbunden und der Entzug von Nahrung, Wasser, Schlaf und medizinischer Behandlung sind an der Tagesordnung. Hinzukommt Folter mit elektrischen Schocks, dem Verbrennen mit Zigaretten, mit Waterboarding (simuliertem Ertrinken) und dem Aufhängen an den Händen oder Füßen an der Decke. Die Rede ist außerdem von Hunden, die auf Gefangene losgelassen wurden – und immer wieder auch von sexueller und geschlechtsspezifischer Gewalt. Inzwischen existieren mehrere Berichte, dass Hunde für die sexuelle Folter Gefangener eingesetzt wurden.[4] Anlässlich der Veröffentlichung des Berichts sprach der UN-Menschenrechtsbauftragte Volker Türk, der zugleich auch die palästinensische Autonomiebehörde wegen willkürlicher Verhaftungen, Folter und Misshandlungen kritisierte und bewaffnete palästinensische Gruppen wegen des 7.Oktober verurteilte, von eklatanten Verletzungen der internationalen Menschenrechtsnormen und des humanitären Völkerrechts seitens Israel.