Israeli Military Launches Probe Into Leak of Video Showing Soldiers Raping Palestinian Detainee

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that it has launched a criminal investigation into last year’s leak of a video showing Israeli soldiers abusing and raping a Palestinian detainee at the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility.

What We Know

Last year, a video was leaked of a gang rape of a Palestinian detainee from Gaza 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 video was aired by Israel’s Channel 11.
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 any action, even gang rape, is permissible if it is undertaken for the security of the state.

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.

The defendants are currently not in custody or under any legal restrictions.

What About the Leaked Video?

According to Haaretz, the Israeli military said Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi has been placed on leave “pending further clarification of details in the matter,” referring to the leaking of the video.

It added that the decision to open a criminal investigation into offenses related to the publication of the video was made “following information recently received” and with the approval of the state prosecutor and the head of the police investigations and intelligence division.

The investigation reportedly focuses on suspicions that the video was leaked by associates of the military advocate general.

Sources in law enforcement told Haaretz that there is no information indicating that Tomer-Yerushalmi herself leaked the video, but rather that her subordinates may have done so. The sources said the investigation was launched based on newly obtained information, unlike other leaks that were not investigated.