IDF court extends arrest of 8 soldiers accused of abusing Palestinian detainee
Two suspects freed after new information emerges in high-profile investigation; reservists are suspected of aggravated sodomy, other serious crimes
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The arrests of eight reserve soldiers suspected of the serious sexual abuse of a Palestinian detainee were extended early Wednesday morning following a lengthy hearing at a military court, the Israel Defense Forces said.
They were to remain in custody until Sunday.
The court at the Beit Lid base in central Israel stated in its decision that the evidence presented “establishes a reasonable suspicion” that the eight soldiers harmed the Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel.
In all, 10 soldiers were detained in the case, although after new information was brought into the investigation prosecutors dropped their demand to extend the detention of two of them.
According to the military prosecution, neither of the released reservists were the main suspects in the high-profile abuse case.
The investigation into the other eight soldiers was ongoing.
According to the IDF, the soldiers were suspected of aggravated sodomy (a charge equivalent to rape), causing bodily harm under aggravated circumstances, abuse under aggravated circumstances and conduct unbecoming of a soldier.
Some of the suspects were also suspected of assault and interfering with the work of public servants, the IDF said.
The reservists were arrested by masked Military Police detectives at the Sde Teiman base in southern Israel on Monday.
After the arrests, a mob of far-right activists and lawmakers broke into the base and demonstrated, and later stormed the Beit Lid base where the suspects were being held and questioned.
The investigation into the soldiers was launched after a detained terror suspect was brought from the base to a hospital with signs of serious abuse, including to his anus. He had been arrested by the IDF in the Gaza Strip several weeks ago.
The right-wing Honenu legal aid organization, which is representing four of the reservist soldiers, claimed that its clients acted in self-defense in the alleged abuse incident.
Throughout the Israel-Hamas war, Sde Teiman has been used to hold more than 1,000 detainees from Gaza who were suspected of terrorist activity. The vast majority were suspected of taking part in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The IDF announced in May that it was investigating suspicions of abuse and torture of detainees in Sde Teiman following reports that the prisoners were being severely mistreated.
The reports alleged widespread abuse of prisoners, including extreme use of physical restraints, beatings, neglect of medical problems, arbitrary punishments, and more.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the High Court that Sde Teiman should only be used for short-term detention and questioning of Palestinian security detainees caught in Gaza.
Terror operatives and other suspects are generally initially held in detention facilities at the IDF’s Sde Teiman, Anatot, and Ofer bases, before being handed over to the Israel Prison Service. The detainees can legally be held for 45 days before they must be either released or moved into the care of the IPS.
Following the abuse and torture allegations and a petition to the High Court, the state announced that the IDF would phase out the use of Sde Teiman, and prisoner transfers began immediately.
