Far-right Israeli nationalist activists stormed two military installations Monday night, protesting the detention and interrogation of nine Israel Defense Forces reservists suspected of raping and abusing a Palestinian prisoner whose injuries were so severe that he had to be hospitalized. Videos posted on social media showed guards at the Sde Teiman military base and prison near Beersheba in southern Israel shouting and pushing military police who had arrived to question the reservists, apparently in defense of the suspects.
The Sde Teiman detention center is known for holding Palestinians arrested in Gaza since Israel launched its war against Hamas leaders in the territoryin response to the horrific terrorist attack carried out by the group on October 7.
The soldiers suspected of abuse were detained for questioning, a rare move in Israel during an ongoing conflict, and it has sparked a furious response from far-right Israelis, including senior government officials. On Monday night, a group of Israelis attempted to storm another military installation, and a protester threatened to riot against the government if the suspects remained in custody.
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The nine Israeli soldiers suspected of committing the abuses were due to appear before a military court on Tuesday. Israelis have been deeply shaken by the events, which highlight the country’s deep political divisions.
A member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, speaking at a meeting of lawmakers on Monday, justified the rape and abuse of Palestinian prisoners, angrily shouting at colleagues questioning the alleged behavior that anything was legitimate to do to “terrorists” in custody.
Lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky was asked, while defending the alleged abuse, whether it was legitimate “to insert a stick into a person’s rectum?”
“Yes!” he shouted in response to his fellow parliamentarian. “If he is a Nukhba [Hamas militant]everything is legitimate to do! Everything!
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has drawn rebuke from the United States for his provocative actions Since the beginning of the war, he has written in a message on social networks: “Don’t touch the reservists.”
Jill Gralow/REUTERS
Other senior Israeli officials, including Netanyahu and army commander Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, however, condemned the attack on the military base by far-right protesters.
“Breaking into a military base and disrupting the order there is serious behavior that is not acceptable under any circumstances,” Halevi said in a statement, adding: “We are in the middle of a war and such actions endanger the security of the state.”
Mr Netanyahu called for calm, strongly condemning the protesters who tried to enter the IDF base, while Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned that “even in difficult times, the law applies to everyone: no one can enter IDF bases or violate the laws of the State of Israel.”
United Nations agencies and human rights organizations, as well as officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and former prisoners interviewed by international news agencies, have all denounced abuses against Palestinians in Israeli detention centers.
The Israeli military insists that its detention centers are run in accordance with international law.
Deborah Patta
