Over 20 testimonies were collected by B’Tselem from Palestinians who were abused by […] occupation soldiers between May and August 2024. Victims describe being randomly seized by soldiers, mostly as they were walking down the streets of the city, going about their daily affairs. “They were beaten and subjected to severe abuse by soldiers, sometimes in the street, and at other times inside military outposts where they were taken,” the rights group said.

“After more than a year of […] an unchecked war against the Palestinian people, and the Israeli government dehumanisation of Palestinians in public discourse, this collective abuse has become part of the routine operations of the Israeli military in the West Bank,” B’Tselem explained.

“Soldiers,” it explained, “are being urged to take more “proactive” and “offensive” actions… In practice, every soldier has been granted virtually unlimited power to use violent means of oppression. Much like the abuse running rampant in Israeli detention facilities for Palestinians (who are classified by Israel as “security prisoners”), soldiers in the field, too, know they will not be held accountable for their conduct.”

As a result, soldiers are searching victims’ phones to find “justification” for harassing and detaining them. “In several incidents, the pretext given for the abuse was “punishment” for content found on phones, such as updates on the situation in Gaza or on military activities in Hebron,” the report explained.

Several victims recounted varying degrees of sexual violence and physical humiliation, ranging from explicit threats of rape, to forced undressing and strong blows to the genitals.