As the world is busy with the regional war Israel has ignited against Iran, the Israeli military court dropped charges against five soldiers for raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman prison in July 2024.
The soldiers were originally indicted for ‘severe abuse’ after stabbing the detainee with a sharp object near his rectum, causing a ruptured bowel, lung damage, and broken ribs.
CCTV footage leaked by Israel’s Channel 12 showed the soldiers forming a human barrier around the victim as he was pinned against a wall and later lying on the floor.
Despite polygraph tests indicating the suspects were lying about inserting an object into the detainee’s anus, the charges were dropped. Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the decision, stating, ‘The State of Israel must hunt down its enemies, not its own heroic fighters.’
According to Quds News, the military top lawyer announced Thursday that he had ordered the indictment against Israeli reservists dropped in the case.
The Military Advocate General Itay Offir cited several reasons for his decision, including a claim of “defense from justice” due to “the conduct of senior officials in the Military Advocate General’s Corps and the IDF’s law enforcement system in this case, and its exceptional and unprecedented circumstances.”
He also claimed a “procedural difficulty regarding the transfer of relevant investigative materials from a case being handled by the Israel Police, in a way that harms the defendants’ right to a fair trial.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz welcomed the decision, saying in a statement that “justice has been done” and labeling the case a “blood libel.”
What We Know
In 2024, a video was leaked of a gang rape of a Palestinian detainee from Gaza by Israeli guards at the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev desert. The video shows the detainee being selected from a larger group lying bound on the floor.
The victim is then escorted to a wall, where guards, using their shields to hide their identity from the camera, proceed to rape him.
The video was aired by Israel’s Channel 11.
The attack is believed to have been so brutal that, after he was transferred to hospital, Israeli media reported that the victim was unable to walk.
Ten soldiers were ultimately arrested for the rape on July 29. The soldiers belong to a unit known as Force 100, which is tasked with guarding the Sde Teiman facility, according to Haaretz.
In August 2024, military prosecutors released three of the arrested soldiers, adding to the two previously released by investigators following a military court hearing in Kfar Yona on July 30, at which settlers gathered in support of the soldiers under arrest.
Hard right and ultranationalist politicians, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said any action, even gang rape, is permissible if it is undertaken for the security of the state.
The detainee suffered rib fractures, a punctured lung, and a rectal injury after being stabbed in the buttocks. The court has prohibited publication of the defendants’ names.
The military prosecution noted that throughout the assault, the detainee cried out in pain, bled from his rectum, and later complained of difficulty breathing and a headache.
The video of the gang rape at Sde Teiman is the latest piece in a growing body of evidence of abuse, sexual assault and the systematic withholding of food and medical care that Palestinians endure within the Israeli prison system.
A report titled Welcome to Hell, published by the Israeli human rights advocacy group, B’Tselem, includes interviews with 55 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli detention centres since October 7, 2023. In firsthand accounts, the detainees recount being assaulted, insulted and sexually abused by guards.
The defendants were not in custody or under any legal restrictions.
What About the Leaked Video?
Last year, Israeli occupation authorities announced they would investigate the “leaking” of the video.
The Israeli military’s top lawyer, Major-General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, resigned after admitting to leaking the footage.
In her resignation statement, Tomer-Yerushalmi blamed pressure from the right-wing on her rape investigation for her decision to leak the footage, claiming that she was countering “false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities”.
Many of the loudest voices in defending the rapists were vocal in welcoming the resignation of Tomer-Yerushalmi.
Writing on social media hours after her resignation, Smotrich accused her and much of Israel’s judicial system of rank corruption, as well as launching what he called an “anti-Semitic blood libel” against their military.
Ben-Gvir was no less critical of Israel’s judicial system in the leaking of the footage, writing: “All those involved in the affair must be held accountable.”
She was reported as missing, with police mounting an hours-long search for her on a beach north of Tel Aviv. She was subsequently found alive and well, police said, but was then taken into custody.
An Israeli court extended the detention of Tomer-Yerushalmi after her admission.
Where’s the Palestinian Detainee?
According to Haaretz, the Palestinian detainee who was abused by guards was released to the Gaza Strip as part of the ceasefire without giving testimony, the military informed the defense attorneys of the five soldiers in the case. However, no confirmation has been made by Palestinian prisoner institutions.
