DayofPal—The Israeli military has dropped charges against five soldiers accused of severely and sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility.
The case emerged in August 2024 when Israel’s Channel 12 broadcast leaked surveillance footage reportedly showing a group of soldiers surrounding a Palestinian detainee while sexually assaulting him inside the facility.
According to reports, the soldiers formed a human barrier around the detainee during the attack.
Medical reports cited by media outlets said the detainee was later transferred to a field hospital at Sde Teiman suffering from serious injuries, including a ruptured bowel, severe anal trauma, lung damage and broken ribs.
Initially, at least nine Israeli reservists from Force 100,a unit responsible for guarding prisoners at the facility, were questioned over the incident.
Five of them were later indicted on charges of “severe abuse”, though prosecutors did not charge them with rape.
The indictment said that the detainee was kicked, beaten, dragged along the ground and shocked with a taser during a 15-minute assault.
The charges also stated that one soldier stabbed the detainee with a sharp object, causing a tear near his rectum.
According to reports by Channel 12, polygraph tests suggested that some of the suspects were lying when questioned about whether they inserted an object into the detainee’s anus.
Despite these findings, the Israeli military announced that the charges would be dropped, citing what it described as “significant developments” in the investigation and the complexity of the available evidence.
Military officials also said the circumstances of the case could affect the suspects’ right to a fair trial.
War criminal Benjamin Netanyahu praised the decision, saying the country should focus on confronting its enemies rather than prosecuting soldiers.
The Sde Teiman detention facility has been the subject of multiple investigations by media outlets including Middle East Eye, CNN and The New York Times, which documented widespread abuse against Palestinian detainees.
A separate inquiry by the United Nations previously accused Israel of using sexual violence and torture as a “method of war” aimed at humiliating and dominating Palestinian prisoners.
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