Investigations into soldiers for alleged sexual abuse fuel tensions between Israeli military and hardliners

JERUSALEM – Nine Israeli soldiers were due to appear before a military court on Tuesday for their first hearing on charges of sexually abusing a Palestinian woman in a dubious facility where Israel held prisoners from the Gaza Strip during the war, according to a defense attorney.

The investigation has increased tensions between the military leadership and hard-line nationalists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, who are demanding an even tougher stance from Israel in the ten-month-long Gaza war.

The arrest of the soldiers on Monday sparked angry protests from supporters demanding their release, including members of parliament and at least two ministers. On Monday, several hundred protesters entered the facility in southern Israel, known as Sde Teiman, and later the military base where the soldiers were being held. They were seen on video brawling with soldiers before being forced to leave.

Defense attorney Nati Rom, who represents three of the soldiers, declined to comment on the nature of the alleged sexual abuse and said they were innocent. The military did not provide details of the investigation, saying only that it involved allegations of “significant abuse.”

An Associated Press investigation and reports from human rights groups have exposed horrific conditions and abuses at Sde Teiman, the military base where most of the thousands of people arrested during the war in Gaza were held.

In a report released in April, the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Palestinians released from detention and returned to Gaza reported cases of prisoners being forced to strip naked, having their photos taken and being beaten on the genitals. The report did not provide information on the facility where the prisoners were being held.

One detainee said he was forced to sit on an electric probe that burned his anus. They also reported being beaten with iron bars, rifle butts and boots, UNRWA said. Many of the returned detainees had to be hospitalized for injuries or illness.

Apart from the alleged abuses currently under investigation, Israeli authorities generally deny that abuses occur in Palestinian detention facilities.

The military court hearing on Tuesday afternoon at the Beit Lid base in central Israel is expected to decide on an extension of the soldiers’ detention, opening up the possibility of new protests.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant condemned the protesters’ break-ins and called for an investigation into whether hard-line national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir “prevented or delayed” the police response to the unrest.

He said the lack of police presence had forced the military to move forces to bases to disperse protesters. In a letter to Netanyahu, he urged him to “crack down on the coalition members who took part in the unrest.”

Ben-Gvir, whose ministry is responsible for the police, responded with his own letter to Netanyahu, saying the allegations that he had delayed the police response to the unrest were unfounded.

On Monday, Ben-Gvir described the detention of the soldiers as “shameful” and called them “our best heroes.” He said of the conditions in the detention centers: “The summer camps and patience with the terrorists are over.”

Defense attorney Rom said the incident under investigation occurred a month ago in Sde Teiman. He said the detainee attacked officers during a search and that soldiers “used violence but did nothing sexual.” He said the detainee was a high-ranking Hamas militiaman.

His account of the incident or the identity of the detainee could not be independently confirmed. Rom works for Honenu, a nationalist legal group that specializes in defending Israeli soldiers and civilians on trial for violence against Palestinians.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza, Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians, according to official figures. But hundreds have been released after the military determined they were not affiliated with Hamas. Israeli human rights groups say the majority of Gaza detainees passed through Sde Teiman at some point.

Israel has long been accused of failing to hold its soldiers accountable for crimes against Palestinians. The allegations have intensified during the Gaza war. Israel says its forces act within the framework of military and international law and says it independently investigates all alleged abuses.

Military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi condemned the protesters’ break-ins and said he fully supported the military prosecutors’ investigations. “It is precisely these investigations that protect our soldiers in Israel and the world and preserve the values” of the military, he said.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel welcomed the military’s investigation, but stressed that the allegations represent systematic abuses at the facility and not just an isolated case.

In Gaza, rescue workers have recovered the bodies of 22 Palestinians who were found dead in the eastern city of Khan Younis after Israeli troops withdrew from the area following an offensive lasting several weeks, according to hospital officials.

It is not clear when they were killed, but workers have repeatedly found bodies in rubble or on the streets after Israeli offensives around Gaza.

Another seven people were killed by Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis late Monday and early Tuesday, said officials at Nasser Hospital, where all the bodies were taken.

The Israeli military began its assault on the southern city in early July, three months after an earlier, lengthy offensive there. The military said on Tuesday that its troops had completed operations in Khan Younis, where it killed dozens of Hamas militants and destroyed tunnels and other Hamas infrastructure.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its attacks on October 7. In the attacks, the terrorists killed around 1,200 people and abducted 250 others. Around 110 hostages are still being held in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel has since killed more than 39,363 Palestinians and injured more than 90,900 in its offensive; the count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

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AP correspondent Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.