IDF says it tracked down troops who blindfolded suspect and bound him to cot

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday said it tracked down soldiers who blindfolded a suspect and bound him to a military cot and a rod with his hands tied behind his back.

“After a thorough investigation, the incident in question was located,” the military said in response to a query by The Times of Israel after a photo of the bound suspect circulated on social media.

The soldiers’ commanders are conducting a further investigation, and implicated troops will be “treated in accordance with the findings,” the IDF added.

The man in the photo was reportedly a Palestinian terror suspect who several weeks ago crossed the Gaza Strip’s Yellow Line from the Hamas-controlled side to the Israeli-controlled side and was detained by the IDF.

Anti-Israel accounts that shared the photo on social media on Tuesday claimed it was taken during operations of the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, which has long faced allegations of abuse and has troops stationed in northern Gaza.

Israel has faced repeated allegations of abuse against thousands of Gazans it has detained since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.

Inspectors from the Public Defender’s Office who audited Israel’s security prisons in 2024 found detainees regularly suffered “unnecessary and unjustified violence,” according to reports obtained by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel through a freedom of information request.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.