Israel has detained nine soldiers working at the Sde Teiman detention camp in the Naqab (Negev) desert, accused of abusing Palestinians held there.
The base – which has been compared to Guantanamo – has been used as a facility to house Palestinians rounded up in Gaza and held without charge. Many are now pointing to the detention of the soldiers as evidence of the continued abuse of prisoners. Reports from human rights organisations indicate that at least 13 prisoners have died from abuse in Israeli prisons — and Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that number is as high as 27 — since October 7, when Israel’s current war on Gaza began.
However, right-wing Israelis – including leading ministers and politicians – reacted to the arrests of the soldiers on Monday with anger, and a mob broke through the gates of Sde Teiman in an effort to free the soldiers. The detained soldiers were taken to another facility.
What has Israel been accused of doing to Palestinian prisoners at Sde Teiman?
Members of a unit known as Force 100 are alleged to have committed “substantial abuse” towards Palestinian prisoners. Israeli media outlets reported that one prisoner was taken to hospital after suffering severe injuries that prevented him from being able to walk. The “severe injury to the buttocks” could not have been self-inflicted, medical officials were reported to have said.
Abuse of Palestinian prisoners has previously been reported at Sde Teiman. One Palestinian journalist held at the base recounted to a lawyer that he had witnessed the rape of detainees from Gaza.
International news outlets such as CNN and The Associated Press (AP) have also reported on the conditions at Sde Teiman. CNN’s report, based on testimony from three Israelis who worked at the base, said that Palestinians held without charge were blindfolded, beaten, and held in stress positions. Whistleblowers claimed that some prisoners even had their limbs amputated after they were so badly injured from constantly being held in handcuffs.
One worker who spoke to The AP said that most detainees were forced to wear nappies and not allowed to use the toilet. The same report said that some of those held at the base appeared to be non-combatants, and that disease was rife because of the conditions the prisoners were being held in.
Is it just Sde Teiman where this abuse is being reported?
Similar allegations have been reported from prisons holding Palestinians across Israel and the occupied West Bank.
Reporting from Gaza after the release of prisoners from Ofer prison in the West Bank earlier in July, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that eight former prisoners said they had been tortured, and deprived of medicine and clothes. Some of the prisoners showed signs of physical abuse on their bodies.
Another released prisoner, Muhammad Abu Salmiya – the director of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital – said that several inmates had died in interrogation centres, and that prisoners had been beaten.
Isn’t that torture under international law?
The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1984, defines torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person” for purposes such as extracting information or a confession, or punishment for an act suspected to have been committed.
The description of the acts committed against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, if proven, would appear to match that definition.
Amnesty International has previously called on Israel to end what it called the “rampant torture” taking place in its prisons, saying it had documented 31 cases of prisoners being held incommunicado, and finding credible evidence of widespread use of torture.
How has Israel responded to the allegations?
Despite the numerous reports of abuse and deaths of prisoners, Israel has previously not publically acknowledged any investigation into the conduct of soldiers and guards working in prisons.
However, with increased attention on Israel following South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice, and arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant sought by the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, it appears to be under more pressure to act.
Israel’s military launched an investigation into the abuse of prisoners at Sde Teiman, and nine soldiers have been held for questioning.
However, the move was met with anger from many Israelis who are opposed to any punishment for abuse committed against Palestinians.
After a confrontation between soldiers at Sde Teiman and another force that had come to detain the accused soldiers, a crowd gathered at the base’s gates and forced its way in.
Demonstrators then tried to break into the Beit Lid military base, where the detained soldiers had been taken.
How divided is Israel over the detention of the soldiers?
The right wing in Israel has clearly set out its stall: it is opposed to any legal consequences for the soldiers, and sees the abuse of Palestinian detainees as justified. One member of the Israeli parliament told a committee meeting that it was “legitimate” to do anything if the detainee was a member of Hamas’s elite forces, including inserting a stick in their rectum.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Monday that he was on his way to Sde Teiman to demand the release of the soldiers, while the chairman of the parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee, Yuli Edelstein, said he would hold a hearing on Tuesday to discuss the arrests, calling them a “contemptible pursuit of our soldiers” that was “unacceptable”.
Head of the military Herzi Halevi, meanwhile, condemned the protests, and Netanyahu released a short statement, condemning the storming of the base and asking for calm.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the mob attack was an “attempted coup by an armed militia against a weak prime minister who is unable to control his government”, serving as a reminder of the deep divisions in Israeli politics, and the accusations Netanyahu faces of being forced to bow down to the far right to keep his coalition alive.
