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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Israeli troops accused of gang raping Palestinian detainee released on house arrest</h1><p class="gmail-">The
Israeli military's investigation of soldiers who sodomized a
Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention camp is meant to
protect Israel from prosecution by international tribunals</p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span>AUG 13, 2024 -<font size="1"> </font></span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-troops-accused-of-gang-raping-palestinian-detainee-released-on-house-arrest">https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-troops-accused-of-gang-raping-palestinian-detainee-released-on-house-arrest</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/4808a450-5957-11ef-95ad-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="408" height="230" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span><font size="1">Blindfolded
Palestinians captured in the Gaza Strip in a detention facility on the
Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel. (Photo credit: Breaking The
Silence via AP)</font></span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span><p>The
Israeli military attorney’s office and defense lawyers agreed on the
release to house arrest of the five soldiers accused of raping a
Palestinian man in the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp, <i>Haaretz</i> <a href="https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/war-2023/2024-08-13/ty-article-live/00000191-4866-dfc4-afd5-e8ee2b120000?liveBlogItemId=1946609636#1946609636">reported</a> on 13 August.</p><p>The
Israeli army spokesman said the five soldiers will be released to house
arrest for 10 days and that during this period, they will be referred
to a review by the Probation Service.</p><p>At the end of the
investigation next week, a hearing procedure will be held for the
suspects, similar to the one conducted before the filing of an
indictment.</p><p>The lawyers from the military defense argued that
house arrest was appropriate for the soldiers because of the time it
would take to review the case and because the soldiers do not pose a
threat to the public.</p><p>On 8 August, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2024/aug/08/israeli-media-alleged-sexual-abuse-palestinian-detainee-video">leaked</a>
surveillance video from Sde Teiman was broadcast on Israeli news
network Channel 12, showing the Israeli soldiers gang-raping the
Palestinian man.</p><p>Yoel Donchin, the doctor who treated the detainee, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-30/ty-article/.premium/doctor-who-saw-abused-gazan-detainee-i-couldnt-believe-an-israeli-jailer-could-do-this/00000191-0436-df85-a399-ed36f4800000">told</a> <i>Haaretz</i> he suffered from “a ruptured bowel, a severe injury to his anus, lung damage and broken ribs.”</p><p>Members of the <a href="https://x.com/GeminaTeed/status/1818234867164873063">Knesset</a> and Hebrew <a href="https://x.com/ireallyhateyou/status/1821121616094412908">media</a>
have strongly criticized the military for detaining the soldiers,
arguing that it is morally acceptable to do anything to Hamas fighters,
including rape.</p><p>Military police officers who arrested the soldiers have faced death threats.</p><p>Israel’s military
advocate general, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi responded to
criticism over the arrests by saying they were crucial for shielding
Israel from war crimes charges in international courts and ensuring
continued weapons deliveries from the US and European nations.</p><p>Tomer-Yerushalmi <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/military-ag-arresting-officers-at-sde-teiman-wore-masks-as-they-face-dozens-of-threats/">told</a>
a Knesset committee on 11 August that the independence of the military
justice system is “essential to the state’s arguments in international
tribunals.”</p><p>The officer noted that “there are countries for which
the question of whether they sell and supply us with munitions is
[determined by] whether we investigate when we receive a complaint.”</p><p>Israel
is almost completely reliant on foreign countries, most notably the US,
for the weapons needed to continue its military campaign in Gaza.</p><p>The
Israeli government is facing charges of committing genocide against
Palestinians in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).</p><p>Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
have been accused of committing war crimes in Gaza by the International
Criminal Court (ICC). Chief prosecutor Karim Khan applied for the ICC to
issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in May, but the ICC has
yet to do so.</p><p><i>The</i> <i>Washington Post</i> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/12/israel-gaza-smotrich-starvation-crimes/">noted</a>
in August, “More than ten months of relentless Israeli bombardment have
led to almost 40,000 people killed, tens of thousands more missing,
much of Gaza flattened, disease spreading and famine conditions in parts
of the territory.”</p></span></div></div></div></div>
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