Israel indicts five reservists over alleged prisoner abuse
The Israeli military prosecutor on Wednesday filed indictments against five reservists, alleging severe abuse and injury of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison.
According to the prosecutor, the abuse included cracked ribs, a punctured lung, and a torn rectum.
The indictments are the latest stage in a case involving a prisoner captured from an elite unit of the militant group Hamas that has brought to light allegations of serious prisoner abuse at Sde Teiman, a military detention facility in southern Israel.
The alleged incident took place on July 5, 2024, while the five reservists were serving in the prison in the Negev desert.
According to the indictment, the soldiers are accused of carrying out the abuse during a search of the victim, in which he was cuffed at the hands and ankles and blindfolded.
“The indictment charges the accused with acting against the detainee with severe violence, including stabbing the detainee’s bottom with a sharp object, which had penetrated near the detainee’s rectum,’’ the military said in a statement.
“Additionally, according to the indictment, the acts of violence have caused severe physical injury to the detainee, including cracked ribs, a punctured lung, and an inner rectal tear,” it said.
It said the evidence in the case was extensive and included medical documentation and security camera footage.
The case stirred fierce debate when it emerged in 2024, with civilian protesters breaking into the Side Teiman compound as well as another site as investigators questioned soldiers.
Israeli military authorities have investigated the case, which politicians denounced. But it was one of a series of similar incidents that Palestinians and human rights groups said formed a pattern of abuse.
Earlier, a military court sentenced a soldier to seven months in prison for severe abuse of Palestinian detainees over a period of several months.
The widespread reports of mistreatment of detainees in Israeli prisons have added to international pressure on Israel over its conduct in the Gaza war.
Israel and Hamas are due to begin indirect negotiations on a second stage of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
(Reuters/NAN)
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