Israeli military indicts 5 reservists accused of sexual, physical abuse of Palestinian detainee

Israel's military said Wednesday that its prosecutor has filed indictments against five reservists who are accused of severely abusing a Palestinian prisoner at a notorious desert military prison.

The five reservists were serving in the Sde Teiman prison in the Negev desert on July 5, 2024, when the Palestinian prisoner suffered cracked ribs, a punctured lung and a torn rectum as a result of their alleged abuse.

The soldiers are accused of inflicting the abuse during a search of the victim, according to the indictment. At the time, the victim was cuffed at the hands and ankles and blindfolded.

Sde Teiman — the military detention facility in southern Israel that held many Palestinians detained in Gaza over the nearly 16-month long war with Hamas — was the subject of calls by rights groups to shut it down, claiming that conditions at the facility are grave and that abuse by Israeli soldiers is common. The groups were basing their claims on testimony from released detainees and Israeli whistleblowers.

The military said the evidence in the case was extensive and included medical documentation and security camera footage.

"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 added.

Severe violence documented at facility

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, when arguing for the prison's closure, had alleged that detainees at the facility are punished with severe violence, including with attack dogs and sexual assault; made to sit on the ground blindfolded and handcuffed 24 hours a day; forbidden from moving or speaking and rarely shower or change clothes. 

Wednesday's 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. The case stirred fierce debate when it emerged last year, with civilian protesters breaking into the Sde Teiman compound and another site as investigators questioned soldiers.

Israeli military authorities have investigated the case, which was denounced by politicians, but it was one of a series of similar incidents that Palestinians and human rights groups said formed a pattern of abuse.

WATCH | A Palestinian detainee describes time in Sde Teiman prison: 

Palestinian man recounts how he ended up at notorious Sde Teiman jail

7 months ago

Duration 2:08

Fadi Bakr says he was searching for food for his family in Khan Younis in January when he was caught in the crossfires of fighting between Hamas militants and the IDF. He says he was shot and eventually arrested by IDF forces, who accused him of being a Hamas militant, despite his denials.

Earlier this month, 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 Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in Israel. 

"Israel indicts five reservists for sexual, physical torture of detainee while High Court refuses to shut down Sde Teiman, where 36 Palestinians have died due to #torture and abuse. You can act like this isn't happening at your own peril," said U.S.-based human rights lawyer Noura Erakat on X.

Detained hospital director describes torture at facility

For months, human rights groups have been calling for the release of hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya whose whereabouts were unknown after he was detained along with other medical staff, by the Israeli military on Dec. 27, 2024, following a raid of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza's northern city of Beit Lahiya. Access to a lawyer was banned for Abu Safiya until Jan. 22, according to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, representing the doctor.

Following his detainment, Amnesty International demanded for the doctor's whereabouts to be disclosed, noting that he has been the most prominent voice of Gaza's decimated health-care sector.

In a news release Thursday, Ireland-based human rights organization Front Line Defenders said Abu Safiya reported being subject to "various forms of torture and degrading treatment" by the military. After being detained, he was transferred to Sde Teiman.

"He reported being forcibly stripped, handcuffed tightly, and forced to sit on sharp stones for approximately five hours," the release said. 

"[He] was also subjected to severe physical abuse, including beatings with electric shocks and batons, as well as repeated blows to his chest."

Abu Saifya was later transferred to Ofer Prison on Jan. 9, where he was reportedly held in solitary confinement for 25 days and subjected to repeated interrogations for 10 days. 

On Friday, a lawyer with Al Mezan Center for Human Rights was informed that there was an order issued to detain Abu Safiya under the Unlawful Combatants Law.

"This law enables prolonged detention without charges, stripping detainees of any meaningful judicial review or due process rights. Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have extensively used this legal framework to arbitrarily detain thousands of Palestinian residents of Gaza," Front Line Defenders said.

Amnesty has previously alleged that Israel uses this law — which grants the country power to detain anyone in Gaza that it suspects of engaging in hostilities against it, or posing a threat to security — to "arbitrarily" detain Palestinian civilians without due process, and called for it to be repealed, and those detained under it released.