Israeli soldiers sentenced to jail for abuse of Palestinian detainees
An Israeli military court has sentenced a soldier to seven months in prison after aggravated abuse of Palestinian detainees at the SDE Teiman Military Detention Centre.
The IDF said the unnamed reserve officers had beaten detainees with his fists and used weapons while being handcuffed and blindfolded, for “several incidents.”
It added: “These actions were carried out in the presence of other soldiers, some of whom called on him to stop and even document them on the defendant's cell phone.”
Harrez reports He was one of the first soldiers to be guilty of Gaza offences during the war with Hamas.
It quoted Beit Lid Military Court as saying the soldier pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated abuse and one count of incorrect conduct as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
It said they were linked to four incidents between January 2024 and June 2024, when he was guarding the trucks transporting detainees.
According to Haaretz, the court ruled that the unspecified masked soldier (whose identity is not yet known) also participated in the abuse.
According to the IDF, convicted soldiers were sentenced to probation and demoted to private positions in addition to their term in prison.
“Soldiers have a responsibility to use the values and commands of IDF to use the entrusted to their troops at any time, especially during wartime.”
The SDE Teiman Detention Center was established 15 months ago after the beginning of the Gaza war. It has been the center of reports of severe abuse ever since.
In July, far-right protesters broke into SDE Teiman as Israeli military police went there to question nine reserve personnel suspected of raping detainees and causing life-threatening. Subsequently, several reserve personnel were arrested.
In October, a report from the UN Commission of Inquiry stated that thousands of child and adult detainees from Gaza “have suffered extensive and systematic abuse, physical and psychological violence, and the sexual and senile crimes that constitute war crimes and crimes. Gender violence opposes human torture and rape and other forms of sexual violence crime”.
The Israeli government said it dismissed allegations of widespread abuse and torture by detainees and insisted that it was “fully committed to international legal standards.” It also said it has conducted a thorough investigation of each complaint.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
According to data from the Hamas-Operation Ministry of Operations in the region, 47,550 people have since been killed in Gaza.
According to the Israel Rights Group, 1,802 Palestinians from Gaza are currently considered “illegal combatants” in Israeli prisons. This figure does not include detainees held by the military.