Get you up to speed: Israeli military drops charges against soldiers accused of abusing detainee
Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that charges against five IDF soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner have been dropped. The soldiers were arrested in 2024 at the Sde Teiman military prison, which was established to hold Palestinians during Israel‘s conflict with Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu praised the decision to drop charges against five IDF soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian man, stating, “the state of Israel must pursue its enemies, not its heroic fighters.” According to Sari Bashi, executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, the ruling represents “the latest in a long line of actions that whitewash abuses against detainees whose frequency and severity have worsened since Oct. 7, 2023.”
The Israeli military is holding nine soldiers for questioning regarding allegations of substantial abuse of a detainee at a facility where Palestinians have been held during the war in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emphasised the need for Israel to focus on its enemies rather than pursuing its military personnel.
Israeli soldiers walk free after ‘sexual assault’ on Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman | News World
A protester waves the Israeli national flag in support of soldiers being questioned for detainee abuse (Picture: AP)
Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the announcement that charges against a group of soldiers who allegedly ‘raped’ a Palestinian prisoner have been dropped.
Five IDF soldiers were accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian man and hitting him with a Taser in an alleged attack partially caught on camera.
The decision closed a case that has bitterly divided the country since the soldiers were arrested in 2024 at the notorious Sde Teiman military prison, prompting anger from members of the right wing government and hard-line ultranationalists who violently overran the prison in protest.
Sde Teiman was set up after Oct. 7, 2023, to hold Palestinians rounded up in Gaza during Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group.
The secretive facility quickly gained notoriety as employees and Palestinians freed from detention described scenes of abuse and torture.
Palestinian prisoners captured in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces at a detention facility on the Sde Teiman military base
(Picture: AP)
In the footage, soldiers cover the camera’s view as a man is dragged behind them. A dog barks ferociously as the soldiers move around behind the riot shields.
The soldiers were accused of dragging the Palestinian on the floor, tasering him, and sexually assaulting him by stabbing him in the rectum, causing multiple injuries, according to the indictment.
He was taken to an Israeli hospital with fractured ribs and blunt trauma to the abdomen and the chest and underwent surgery for a perforated rectum before being returned to the prison.
Right-wing protesters wave Israeli flags outside Sde Teiman detention facility, after Israeli Military Police arrived at the site to investigate abuse at the site (Picture: REUTERS)
The decision added that the alleged victim had since been released back to Gaza, creating an ‘absence of certainty’ he would be able to testify in a trial.
‘Israel’s military advocate general just gave his soldiers license to rape — so long as the victim is Palestinian,’ said Sari Bashi, executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel. She said the decision was ‘the latest in a long line of actions that whitewash abuses against detainees whose frequency and severity have worsened since Oct. 7, 2023.’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the investigation, saying that ‘the state of Israel must pursue its enemies, not its heroic fighters.’
The phone, believed to hold possible evidence against her, was later recovered in the sea.
Israel has long been accused of failing to hold its soldiers accountable for crimes committed against Palestinians. The allegations have intensified during the war in Gaza. Israel says its forces act within military and international law and says it thoroughly investigates any alleged abuses.
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