Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
A video showing Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner from the Gaza Stirp in the notorious Israeli detention camp Sde Teiman leaked on August 7.
The footage from surveillance cameras, first aired by Israel’s Channel 12, shows a group of Israeli reservist soldiers picking a detainee out of more than 30 others, who are all laid on the ground blindfolded. The detainee is then taken to a corner.
“It is clear that they know about the surveillance cameras, and try to hide their act with shields,” the news channel said in a report. “The video contains documentation of the felony of the reservists: the act of sodomy in these circumstances.”
The report added that the detainee was bleeding and was taken to hospital after several hours, where his condition was described as “complex.”
“The injury was caused by the insertion of an object,” the channel said, quoting a medical report.
Following the arrest of nine soldiers for committing the sexual assault on July 29, Israeli right-wing protesters, including politicians, broke into two military bases in southern and central Israel. Israeli military prosecution claims it is still investigating the incident, but has not filed any charges against the accused.
A report released by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem on August 5 accused the Israeli military of following a systematic policy of prisoner torture since the start of the war on Gaza. The report detailed allegations that prisoners were subjected to arbitrary beatings, degrading and humiliating treatment and sleep deprivation as well as “the repeated use of sexual violence, in varying degrees of severity”.
The group said that the report was based on interviews with 55 Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank and Israel detained in Israeli prisons since the October 7 Hamas-led surprise attack that set off the war, most of them without being tried.
“The testimonies clearly indicate a systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel,” the report said.
“The overall picture indicates abuse and torture carried out under orders, in utter defiance of Israel’s obligations both under domestic law and international law,” it added.
It’s worth noting that Israel has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians since the start of the war on Gaza, with women and children making up the majority.
The leaked sexual assault footage and B’Tselem’s report attracted minimum attention from the mainstream media in the West, and no seriouse condemnation from Israel’s allies. It’s worth noting that Palestinian rights organizations and activists have been reporting similar information since the start of the war, to no avail.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
