IOF reservists indicted for torturing Palestinian in Sde Teiman

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
19 Feb 2025 14:28

The harrowing ordeal unfolded over 15 agonizing minutes, during which the blindfolded and shackled Palestinian detainee endured a relentless barrage of Israeli violence.

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A screenshot from a video shows the sexual assault of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison in "Israel", as it aired on Israeli Channel 12.

Five Israeli reserve soldiers from the "Force 100" prison riot control unit of the Military Police have been indicted for causing severe injury and assault under aggravated circumstances, stemming from their abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the notorious Sde Teiman military camp.

The indictment, filed by the Military Advocate General’s Office, details that on July 5, 2024, after the Palestinian detainee was brought to Sde Teiman, the five soldiers conducted a search and then, with help from other members of the riot control unit, violently assaulted him. The Palestinian detainee was blindfolded and restrained with shackles on his hands and feet.

"For 15 minutes, the accused kicked the detainee, stomped on him, stood on his body, hit him and pushed him all over his body, including with clubs, dragged his body along the ground, and used a taser gun on him, including on his head," the indictment states.

During this brutal assault, one of the soldiers "stabbed the detainee in his buttock with a sharp object" near his anus, resulting in a tear in his rectal wall.

After about an hour, officials at the detention facility noticed the detainee was bleeding heavily, and he was transported to a hospital.

As a result of the brutal beating, the detainee sustained multiple traumatic injuries, including seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, a rectal tear, and wounds across his body. He underwent surgery on his large intestine and had a stoma fitted, which was removed three months later.

Liberated Palestinian medic recounts torture in 'Israel's' Sde Teiman

Palestinian medic and ambulance worker Tarek Rabie Safi, who was recently liberated as part of the prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and "Israel", left Israeli prisons after enduring a year of abuse at the hands of Israeli occupation soldiers.

Safi, a 39-year-old father of two, was released on Saturday along with 368 other Palestinian detainees following the release of three Israeli captives from Gaza. Gaunt-looking and tired, Safi recounted his imprisonment in the notorious detention center of Sde Teiman, where he was starved and tortured continuously for four months.

"[There was] no [decent] food, or drinks, or [medical] treatment. My arm was broken, and they did not treat me, and they did not get me checked by a doctor."

Safi, who was detained in March last year near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said a fellow prisoner in the same room was killed due to the treatment he received.

"A young man who was with me was martyred, Mussab Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him, in the same room. This young man was strong, but due to the lack of food, lack of drinks, and frequent torture, he was martyred in front of our eyes," Safi said.

After spending four months in the notorious detention center, Safi was transferred to other Israeli prisons before being released in Khan Younis, where he was reunited with his family.

The Palestinian Prisoner Association repeatedly blasted the Israeli occupation for committing "systematic crimes and revenge attacks" against Palestinian detainees, particularly in the occupied West Bank’s Ofer prison.

Abdullah al-Zaghari, the association's chief, said the group had recorded harrowing testimonies, including severe beatings and cases where Palestinian detainees were shackled for extended periods without access to food or water.

Surging death toll of Palestinian prisoners

Since the start of "Israel's" genocidal war in October 2023, the number of detainee martyrs known by name in Israeli prisons has risen to 58, including at least 37 from Gaza. Rights organizations describe this as the deadliest period for Palestinian prisoners since 1967.

The Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Association accused Israeli authorities of not only killing detainees but also deliberately withholding information about the circumstances of their deaths and fabricating reports. Rights groups have extensively documented widespread abuses, including severe beatings, torture, food and medical deprivation, and sexual violence inside Israeli prisons.

The organizations stressed that Israeli forces are systematically carrying out executions within detention centers and that these killings represent an extension of "Israel's" genocidal war against Palestinians.

Palestinian rights groups have reiterated their call for urgent international action to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes. They demand immediate intervention from global human rights organizations and the implementation of sanctions against "Israel" to push it into international isolation.