Blindfolded Palestinians captured in the Gaza Strip in a detention facility on the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel. (Photo credit: Breaking The Silence via AP)
The Israeli military attorney’s office and defense lawyers agreed on the release to house arrest of the five soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian man in the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp, Haaretz reported on 13 August.
The Israeli army spokesman said the five soldiers will be released to house arrest for 10 days and that during this period, they will be referred to a review by the Probation Service.
At the end of the investigation next week, a hearing procedure will be held for the suspects, similar to the one conducted before the filing of an indictment.
The lawyers from the military defense argued that house arrest was appropriate for the soldiers because of the time it would take to review the case and because the soldiers do not pose a threat to the public.
On 8 August, a leaked surveillance video from Sde Teiman was broadcast on Israeli news network Channel 12, showing the Israeli soldiers gang-raping the Palestinian man.
Yoel Donchin, the doctor who treated the detainee, told Haaretz he suffered from “a ruptured bowel, a severe injury to his anus, lung damage and broken ribs.”
Members of the Knesset and Hebrew media have strongly criticized the military for detaining the soldiers, arguing that it is morally acceptable to do anything to Hamas fighters, including rape.
Military police officers who arrested the soldiers have faced death threats.
Israel’s military advocate general, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi responded to criticism over the arrests by saying they were crucial for shielding Israel from war crimes charges in international courts and ensuring continued weapons deliveries from the US and European nations.
Tomer-Yerushalmi told a Knesset committee on 11 August that the independence of the military justice system is “essential to the state’s arguments in international tribunals.”
The officer noted that “there are countries for which the question of whether they sell and supply us with munitions is [determined by] whether we investigate when we receive a complaint.”
Israel is almost completely reliant on foreign countries, most notably the US, for the weapons needed to continue its military campaign in Gaza.
The Israeli government is facing charges of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have been accused of committing war crimes in Gaza by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Chief prosecutor Karim Khan applied for the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in May, but the ICC has yet to do so.
The Washington Post noted in August, “More than ten months of relentless Israeli bombardment have led to almost 40,000 people killed, tens of thousands more missing, much of Gaza flattened, disease spreading and famine conditions in parts of the territory.”
Source: Thecradle
