A video showing Israeli soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman military camp being applauded by people in a Jerusalem courtroom has triggered widespread outrage and intensified scrutiny of Israel’s handling of Palestinian prisoners.
The footage, circulated widely on social media, shows supporters standing, cheering and filming as the two masked soldiers arrive for a Supreme Court hearing.
The session was convened to determine who would lead the investigation into the leak of a video showing Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee during the Gaza war.
The case comes after last month’s revelations that the army’s former chief legal adviser, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, was allegedly involved in leaking the footage to Channel 12. She stepped down shortly afterwards and was subsequently detained by Israeli police.
The leaked footage, filmed at Sde Teiman in July 2024, appears to show soldiers surrounding a blindfolded Palestinian man with riot shields before dragging him aside and assaulting him. The victim was later hospitalised with severe internal injuries.
Israeli media reported that at least nine soldiers were arrested in connection with the case, with five still in custody. Although military prosecutors initially examined rape charges, these were later dropped, prompting criticism from rights groups.
PCHR: Abuse is systematic, not isolated
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has recently documented testimonies from released detainees describing “organised and systematic” sexual torture in Israeli detention facilities.
Former prisoners — including women and minors — recounted repeated rape, forced stripping, electrocution, beatings and sexual assaults using objects and dogs. PCHR said these accounts form part of a wider pattern of abuse in prisons and military camps where thousands of Palestinians are held without access for international monitors, including the Red Cross.
In response, PCHR called on the international community “to take immediate action to end the systematic policy of torture and enforced disappearance against Palestinian detainees.”
It urged “concrete measures to pressure Israel to release all Palestinians arbitrarily detained, to disclose the fate and whereabouts of all forcibly disappeared persons, and to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross immediate and unrestricted access to all detention facilities.”
The organisation also warned that “thousands of Palestinian detainees face the risk of certain death” under a proposed Israeli bill.
The Israeli Knesset has approved, in a preliminary reading, a draft law that would introduce the death penalty for individuals convicted of “terrorism,” with 39 votes in favour and 16 against, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (KAN).
