Five Israeli Soldiers Charged with Torturing Palestinian Prisoner, Including Amputations and Sexual Assaults

Watan-The military prosecution in the Israeli occupation army has filed charges against five of its soldiers involved in the torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza, while they were bound at the “Sdeh Taiman” camp in the Negev during the war on Gaza.

Western reports had revealed months ago about acts of killing and torture of dozens of Gaza prisoners inside what has become known as the Israeli “Abu Ghraib” prison, i.e., “Sdeh Taiman,” with details provided by the Haaretz newspaper and the organization “Physicians for Human Rights,” which reported horrific accounts of murder, abuse, and torture.

Several Palestinian prisoners had their limbs amputated due to infections caused by the metal and plastic shackles attached to their hands and legs for hours daily, in addition to sexual assault, beatings, and causing severe injuries.

According to the indictment, which is just the tip of the iceberg and part of official attempts to claim that Israel is investigating violations by some of its soldiers in an effort to avoid international legal prosecutions, five reserve soldiers, including two officers, participated on July 5, 2024, in the torture of a Gaza prisoner, causing him severe injuries inside the “Sdeh Taiman” detention center.

The indictment states that the five soldiers attacked an unnamed Gaza prisoner, beating him severely, including stabbing him in the rear with a sharp object, breaking his ribs with heavy blows, and puncturing his lung. The soldiers had been instructed to search the Gaza prisoner, and they led him to a designated area for the search, with his hands and feet bound, and his eyes blindfolded.

The indictment claims that the Israeli army has collected substantial evidence during the investigation, including extensive medical documentation and original visual documentation from surveillance cameras inside the detention center.

In July, it was announced that military police investigators had raided the “Sdeh Taiman” detention center and seized the evidence included in the indictment.

According to the indictment, two of the soldiers pushed the Gaza prisoner towards the wall, pressed him against it while raising his bound arms, with the other three soldiers surrounding them. The indictment continues, stating that immediately after, the Palestinian prisoner was lying on the ground writhing in pain, while the soldiers stomped on him and kicked him all over his body with their hands, feet, and sticks for 15 minutes. Then they dragged him and aimed an electric stun gun at his head.

According to the indictment, the five soldiers continued beating the Palestinian prisoner until his blindfold fell off, then one of them stabbed him in the back, causing him bleeding and injury. Another soldier forced him to insert a stick into his mouth while the prisoner screamed in pain.

The indictment claims a report was filed stating that the prisoner complained of breathing difficulties and headaches. After several hours, other soldiers inside the prison noticed significant bleeding when they saw the prisoner’s clothes soaked in blood, prompting them to call for medical assistance and transfer him to the prison clinic. There, the doctor ordered his transfer to a hospital due to his critical condition.

The military prosecution states that the five soldiers caused severe injuries throughout the Palestinian prisoner’s body, including head injuries and seven broken ribs, forcing him to undergo several surgeries.

The lawyers of the five soldiers claim the charges against them are fabricated. The arrest of the soldiers months ago caused a storm of reactions in Israel, leading to raids by right-wing members and MPs on the detention center, as well as a raid on the “Beit Lid” prison where the abusive soldiers were held. The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant delayed condemning the raids for hours, while completely ignoring the torture of Palestinian prisoners.

In this context, the number of martyrs among the prisoners and detainees in the Israeli occupation’s prisons since the beginning of the genocide war has reached 55 martyrs, whose identities are known, in light of the ongoing crime of enforced disappearance against hundreds of Gaza detainees. This number represents the highest historical toll of martyrs among the prisoner movement during the most violent phase, raising the number of martyrs in the prisoner movement since 1967 to 292, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.