On Monday, the Israeli military reported that nine soldiers are being held in connection with suspected abuse of a detainee at a facility that detains Palestinians arrested from Gaza during the ongoing war.
Israeli civilians protested outside the military base where the soldiers are being held, and some even broke into the detention facility where the alleged abuse occurred.
A military spokesperson confirmed that the nine soldiers are being questioned as part of an investigation into the suspected abuse at the Sde Teiman base, which was set up to hold Palestinians arrested in Gaza since the conflict began. In question is a Palestinian who was allegedly abused by some soldiers.
Since the conflict started, there have been numerous allegations of abuse from United Nations agencies, human rights advocates, officials in Gaza, and former detainees. The Israeli military claims that its detention conditions comply with international law.
Top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and army chief Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, condemned the actions of the protesters. Halevi described the break-in as severe and unacceptable, warning that such actions could endanger national security. Netanyahu also condemned the incident and called for calm.
The Sde Teiman facility was established to detain Palestinians from Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians. Hamas also took 251 hostages, with 111 still being held in Gaza. Israel’s response has resulted in the deaths of 39,363 people in Gaza.
Amnesty International has recently called on Israel to end the indefinite detention of Palestinians from Gaza and to address what it describes as rampant torture in Israeli prisons. Amnesty reported 27 cases of Palestinians, including five women and a 14-year-old boy, detained for up to four and a half months without contact with their families.
