Rabat – A leaked video allegedly showing Israeli soldiers raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility has triggered a global outcry and prompted demands for accountability and justice.
Aired by Israeli Channel 12, the footage from surveillance cameras showed a group of Israeli reservist soldiers taking a detainee from a group of blindfolded Palestinian prisoners. The detainee was then taken to a corner where the abuse occurred.
The report said that the soldiers were aware of the surveillance cameras and tried to conceal their faces and actions using shields. “The video contains a documentation to the felony of the reservists: the act of sodomy in these circumstances,” the report said, according to Anadolu Agency.
The channel added that the Palestinian detainee was taken to the hospital after bleeding for several hours, which his condition described as “complex.”
“The injury was caused by the insertion of an object,” the Israel Channel 12 said, quoting a medical report.
Following the incident, which took place in late July, nine soldiers were arrested, but as of the latest updates, Israeli forces prosecution has not yet filed charges against them.
The detention of the Israeli soldiers triggered protests from far-right supporters and Knesset members, who clashed with military police at the Sde Teiman facility. When the arrests first occurred, the Israeli Occupation Foces (IOF) said that these soldierswere facing allegations of “substancial abuse” towards the detainees with no mention of rape.
In response to the leaked video, the United States has called on Israel to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that those reponsible are held accountable.
“There ought to be zero tolerance for sexual abuse, rape of any detainees. Period,” said US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a press briefing on WednesdaMiller described the leaked footage and reports of abuse at the Sde Teiman facility as “horrific,” stressing that Israel must fully investigate any instances of detainee abuse, including sexual assault. A recent report by Israeli NGO B’Tselem featured shocking testimonies from Palestinians who were detained at Israeli prisons. Titled “Welcome to Hell,” the report revealed a disturbing pattern of “systematic” abuse and torture against Palestinians in what it described as “torture camps.”
The human nights organization interviewed 55 Palestinian detainees, who detailed they were subjected to arbitrary beatings, degrading and humiliating treatment, forced unhygienic conditions, denial of medical treatment, sleep deprivation, and sexual violence of varying degrees.
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