Israel’s top army lawyer has dropped charges against five Israeli soldiers accused of gravely sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman prison in 2024.
Itai Ofir, the Israeli military advocate general, said the decision was made due to “exceptional circumstances” that make a fair trial difficult. The case was bitterly contested when it emerged in February last year. Many Israelis and politicians rallied round the suspects, who, according to the original indictment, severely beat the detainee, from Gaza, and inflicted injuries including broken ribs and a tear in his rectum.
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel said the military advocate general “just gave his soldiers licence to rape − so long as the victim is Palestinian,” in a statement released shortly after the announcement.
It said the decision was "the latest in a long line of actions that whitewash abuses against detainees, the frequency and severity of which have worsened since October 7, 2023", when the Gaza war broke out.
"The victim’s condition on arrival to hospital leaves no doubt about the assault he suffered at the detention centre. Camera footage released to the public clearly shows that the perpetrators were his captors, who for [many] minutes abused him with blood-chilling cruelty.”
The military advocate general said “significant developments” that led to the indictment being shelved included complex evidence, controversy over the conduct of the previous military advocate general, and the fact that the detainee in question is now in Gaza.
Defence Minister Israel Katz welcomed the news, accusing the previous lawyer of maligning Israeli soldiers. "I am happy that justice has been done and the trial has been cancelled,” he said.
“The role of the [Israeli military] legal system is to protect and preserve soldiers who are heroically engaged in war against cruel monsters, and not the rights of Nukhba terrorists,” he said referring to the special forces of Hamas’s military wing.
