Israeli Soldiers Accused of Raping Palestinian Detainees in Sde Teiman Jail

Nine Israeli soldiers from the defamed Sde Teiman detention center were arrested on Monday for the suspected rape of a Palestinian detainees, this led to a rampage spearheaded by nationalist activists and members of parliament. 

 The Israeli military police got some resistance when they stormed the Sde Teiman facility. Soldiers were also alleged to have locked themselves inside and utilized pepper spray on the raiding officers before succumbing to their force and being arrested. The detained Palestinian, who, as Arab48 stated, is in severe condition with a serious wound in his rectum area, was taken to a hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel, where Haaretz said he has been unable to walk. 

 The Israeli army has said a probe of the conflicting claims to the site is ongoing. 

 These arrests raised tensions among far-right Israelis and resulted in protests across the country for detained soldiers. Several dozens of persons, among which members of parliament and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, rallied near Sde Teiman and charged into the detention center. 

 Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack on Sde Teiman, the storming “immediately cool the spirits. ” Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, currently in recess, will meet in an extraordinary session MPs trying to defend the soldiers on Tuesday. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich referred to the suspects as “heroic warriors,” and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the prisons where Palestinians are held, endorsed the act, calling the suspects the “best heroes” and the arrest as shameful. 

 Regarding torture and other forms of abuse, the detainees Palestinians have continuously accused Israel of torture and sexual assault in prisons. Hamas’ attack on Israel and the subsequent warfare on Gaza, starting from October 7, reveals an alarming increase in documented abuse and torture of Palestinian detainees. This is true because detentions have been recorded to be on the rise most of the time, with no charge being laid. The detainees have narrated being physically whipped with dogs and electric cables, shot at, and stripped naked, among other inhuman ways. 

 This has, in the past few months, been met with several reports of Palestinian prisoners being raped through the use of metal rods by the Israeli soldiers and correctional officers and even through fire extinguishers. According to the Addameer non-governmental organization dealing in the support of Palestinian prisoners, Israel detains approximately 9,700 political prisoners of Palestinian origin. 

 On Sunday, Ben Gvir stated, “Conditions inside the Israeli prisons have indeed worsened,” to which he repeated, “I am proud of that. ” 

 The instance where the Israeli settlers’ Sde Teiman was accused of gang-raping a woman was regarded condemned by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel in the course of the war as they said, “ Since the war began, we argued that the Sde Teiman was outside the law in every concept, as were all the soldiers being detained there with two authorities for two distinct groups: detainees and military police investigators. ” Far-right leaders supported the 

 On July 15, the High Court of Israel provided a conditional order to expulsion to shut down Sde Teiman following the allegations of abuse. It explained that legal norms do not manage the center for the detention of unlawful combatants. 

 This is a hint of the continuous violation of human rights and the handling of people in prison, as seen in the case of Sde Teiman.