LONDON: A video broadcast by Israel’s Channel 12 has sparked widespread outrage. The footage shows what the channel says is Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee.
The video, captured by surveillance cameras at the Sde Teiman detention camp, has drawn international condemnation.
In the footage, more than 30 inmates are lying face down with their hands on their heads. A group of soldiers select a detainee who is then taken to a corner, where three soldiers use their shields to obscure the scene from the cameras. Other soldiers and a dog on a leash barking aggressively stand nearby.
“It is clear that they know about the surveillance cameras, and try to hide their act with shields,” the Channel 12 reporter describing the footage commented. “The video contains documentation of felony by the reservists: The act of sodomy in these circumstances.”
The US State Department expressed “deep concern” over the video, with spokesman Matthew Miller calling the reports of sexual abuse “horrific” and urging a thorough investigation by the Israeli government and the IDF.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, also demanded accountability for the incident, describing it as “humanity at its worst.”
He noted that the UNRWA had previously highlighted “inhumane practices” in Israeli detention centers.
The Palestinian detainee was taken to a hospital several hours after the incident. According to local media, the doctor who treated the man said he had suffered “a ruptured bowel, a severe injury to his anus, lung damage and broken ribs.”
Nine soldiers have been arrested in connection with the incident, though no charges have yet been filed, according to Israeli military prosecution.
Following the arrests, a mob attempted to storm a different base where the detained soldiers were being held, according to the IDF. Multiple far-right Israeli lawmakers appeared to be among those in the crowd, local media reported.
Israeli authorities have long faced accusations of mistreatment and systemic abuse of Palestinian prisoners. A report published last month by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights found evidence of “a range of appalling acts” against detainees.
Similarly, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem released a report on Monday titled “Welcome to Hell,” which included testimony from 55 recently released Palestinian detainees. It alleged that conditions in Israeli prisons amount to torture.
keywords
