Israel’s military said it dropped charges against five soldiers accused of beating and sexually assaulting a Palestinian man held at the Sde Teiman military detention center.
The soldiers, per an indictment, were accused of dragging the man along the floor, stepping on him, tasering him and sexually assaulting him by stabbing him in the rectum, The Associated Press reported. The Palestinian man was hospitalized with fractured ribs and a perforated rectum.
In August 2024, an Israeli news outlet, Channel 12, broadcast a leaked video of the alleged assault.
“Israel’s military advocate general just gave his soldiers license to rape — so long as the victim is Palestinian,” said Sari Bashi, executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel. She added that this is “the latest in a long line of actions that whitewash abuses against detainees whose frequency and severity have worsened since Oct. 7, 2023.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, praised the decision.
