Israel has dropped all charges against five soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at a military detention facility, Al-Ittihad have reported of Friday, March 13, closing a case that became one of the most divisive in the country’s recent history. The soldiers’ initial arrest in 2024 had prompted anger from members of Israel’s far-right government and racist MKs, some of whom physically stormed the Sde Teiman base in protest.

The military announced the decision this week, more than a year after footage of the case at Sde Teiman, a military facility holding Palestinians detained during Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, was broadcast by Israeli television, triggering international outrage.

A demonstration held in front of Sde Teiman by Israeli peace activists, April 20, 2024 (Photo: Free Jerusalem)

The incident, which occurred on July 5, 2024, resulted in the detainee being admitted to hospital. A doctor at the facility, Professor Yoel Donchin, told Haaretz he was so shocked by the man’s condition that he initially assumed it was the work of a rival armed group. The military’s own indictment described soldiers stabbing the detainee with a sharp object near his rectum, causing cracked ribs, a punctured lung and an internal tear.

Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman, a member of the Israeli parliament told Al Jazeera, “They [the government] want to cover up the rape.” “That’s why they’re dealing with the prosecutors and not the crime itself,” Touma-Sliman said, adding, “This is how the judiciary works. These are your so-called checks and balances. Look at them, they’re criminals.” According to the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, a human rights organization, despite hundreds of reported alleged abuse cases since October 2023, Israeli authorities have brought indictments in only two incidents, with no prison service personnel or soldiers charged.

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31874