Quds News Network

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- An Israeli military court judge proposed on Monday that five reservist soldiers, accused of raping and abusing a Palestinian detainee from Gaza, enter a mediation process, one year after their arrest at the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility. Last year, a vidoe emerged of a gang rape of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli guards at the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev desert. The video shows the detainee being selected from a larger group lying bound on the floor. The victim is then escorted to a wall, where guards, using their shields to hide their identity from the camera, proceed to rape him. The attack is believed to have been so brutal that, after he was transferred to hospital, Israeli media reported that the victim was unable to walk. Ten soldiers were ultimately arrested for the rape on July 29. The soldiers belong to a unit known as Force 100, which is tasked with guarding the Sde Teiman facility, according to Haaretz. In August 2024, military prosecutors released three of the arrested soldiers, adding to the two previously released by investigators following a military court hearing in Kfar Yona on July 30, at which settlers gathered in support of the soldiers under arrest. Hard right and ultranationalist politicians, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said m any action, even gang rape, is permissible if it is undertaken for the security of the state. On Monday, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the trial of the five soldiers has not yet officially begun because the defense team has not submitted its response to the indictment and is demanding additional investigative materials. Meir Wegiser, head of the military court at Beit Lid, recommended twice during a hearing on the case that both sides agree to a plea bargain without a trial, which would otherwise require testimony from both the detainee and the defendants. Wegiser also suggested splitting the proceedings, saying that it was possible only some of the defendants could enter mediation, while the others would proceed with a regular trial. The prosecution said that it was willing to accept the proposal to go to mediation, but the defense team said it would only consider it after receiving all the investigative materials. The defense attorneys were supposed to submit their response to the indictment on Monday but announced that they were not prepared to do so, as they had not received all the materials they considered essential for their preparation. The detainee suffered rib fractures, a punctured lung, and a rectal injury after being stabbed in the buttocks. The court has prohibited publication of the defendants' names. The military prosecution noted that throughout the assault, the detainee cried out in pain, bled from his rectum, and later complained of difficulty breathing and a headache. The video of the gang rape at Sde Teiman is the latest piece in a growing body of evidence of abuse, sexual assault and the systematic withholding of food and medical care that Palestinians endure within the Israeli prison system. A report titled Welcome to Hell, published this week by the Israeli human rights advocacy group, B’Tselem, includes interviews with 55 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention centres since October 7. In firsthand accounts, the prisoners, the majority of whom were later released without charge at locations across the occupied Palestinian territory, Gaza and within Israel, recount being assaulted, insulted and sexually abused by guards.

Israeli Judge Proposes Mediation for Five Soldiers Accused of Raping and Abusing Gazan Detainee at Sde Teiman

Also Read

Israel Bars Al-Aqsa Preacher Sheikh Ekrima Sabri from Friday Prayers Without Explanation

Vance Says Aid to Gaza at Highest Level in Five Years; Palestinians Reject Claim

Head of Palestinian Human Rights Group Barred From Entering France