Israeli lawmaker justifies rape of Palestinian prisoners

An Israeli lawmaker from the ruling Likud party, Hanoch Milwidsky, said that "everything is legitimate" when asked whether it was justified to rape Palestinian prisoners. 

"To insert a stick in a person's rectum, is that legitimate?" asked Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian lawmaker during a meeting. 

"Yes! If he is a Nukhba everything is legitimate to do to him," screamed Milwidsky back. 

There has been widespread reporting that Palestinian prisoners are being tortured in Israeli prisons. 

The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa) said it received reports of mass ill-treatment of Palestinians taken captive from Gaza by Israeli forces, including detainees being urinated on and made to act like animals, and children being attacked by dogs.  

A report, released on Palestinian Prisoners' Day in April, warned that for the thousands of prisoners kept in detention by the Israeli army, physical, sexual and psychological abuse was routine.

"This included being subjected to beatings while made to lie on a thin mattress on top of rubble for hours without food, water or access to a toilet, with their legs and hands bound with plastic ties.

"Several detainees reported being forced into cages and attacked by dogs. Some released detainees, including a child, had dog bite wounds on their body," read the report.