Palestinian prisoner group demands international inquiry into abuse allegations

Israeli soldiers clash with right wing protesters, after they broke into the Bayt Lid army base over the detention for questioning of military reservists who were suspected of abuse of a detainee. (Reuters)

• Head of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission said on Monday there had been reports of abuse at Israeli military facility at center of investigation

RAMALLAH: The association representing Palestinian prisoners called for an international inquiry into allegations of abuse of detainees in Israeli jails since the start of the war in Gaza, following an outcry by right wing protesters over an Israeli investigation.
Qadura Fares, head of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, said on Monday night there had been multiple reports of abuse at Sde Teiman, the military facility in southern Israel at the center of the investigation.
“Every day, as we witness the massacres against our people in Gaza, we hear horrific and harsh testimonies from legal teams and detainees who are released,” he said in a statement.
He said the Israeli investigation and the detention of nine Israeli soldiers was a “farce” aimed at misleading world opinion.
The Israeli military said the investigation into the Israeli soldiers was ordered “following suspected substantial abuse of a detainee.” It provided no further details.
According to Israeli press reports, the soldiers have been accused of sexually abusing the prisoner. Reuters has not been able to independently verify those reports. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Army Radio reported that the detainee had been a member of an elite unit of Hamas who had been captured in Gaza during the Israeli offensive there that followed the group’s Oct. 7 attack.
The investigation sparked angry protests from some Israelis who said the soldiers had been doing their duty. It also underscored longstanding tensions in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu between hard-line nationalist-religious parties and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the army command.
Protesters, including a number of prominent right-wing politicians, broke into two Israeli military facilities on Monday, in a move denounced by Israel’s army chief as “bordering on anarchy.”