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<\/p>\nIsrael’s military has dropped the prosecution of five reservists accused of the violent rape of a Palestinian man in a notorious defence detention centre, under the cover of the country’s war with Iran.<\/p>\n
Warning: This story contains distressing details of sexual abuse.<\/p>\n
The shocking incident in July 2024 was caught on CCTV and later broadcast on Israeli television, sparking a nationwide debate about the treatment of Palestinians within Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n
The group could be seen dragging a man to the side of a large room at the Sde Teiman facility in southern Israel, before the assault occurred.<\/p>\n
Some of the reservists shielded what happened next from view, but doctors’ reports detailed the injuries the man sustained as a result of the intense beating. They included a perforated bowel, which required surgery.<\/p>\n
The victim was later sent back to Gaza, before the trial of the reservists began.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Israeli soldiers appeared to hold shields to hide the abuse from the cameras. (Supplied: Channel 12)<\/p>\n
In a statement, the country’s Defence Minister Israel Katz welcomed a decision by the military’s top prosecutor to drop the charges, declaring “justice has been served”.<\/p>\n
“This trial was born in sin by the previous Chief Military Prosecutor, using a blood libel against IDF soldiers and criminal interrogation methods, and I am glad that justice has been served and the trial has been cancelled,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“The role of the IDF’s legal system is to protect and safeguard IDF soldiers who heroically fight in the war against cruel monsters, and not the rights of Nukhba terrorists.<\/p>\n
“I am convinced that this decision will lead to a new path.”<\/p>\n
The head of Israel’s military justice unit, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, quit in October last year over the scandal.<\/p>\n
She admitted she had leaked the vision to the media in response to attacks from Israel’s right-wing that her staff were protecting terrorists at the expense of serving Israeli defence personnel.<\/p>\n
Soon after her resignation, she disappeared \u2014 sparking a search and rescue mission in Tel Aviv and beyond.<\/p>\n
Police later found Tomer-Yerushalmi and arrested her over the leak.<\/p>\n
Israeli military lawyer arrest highlights abuse of Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n Israel’s top military lawyer is behind bars after leaking a video of shocking alleged abuse of a Palestinian man in a military jail. This is why the case has shaken politics and the military to the core.<\/p>\n Her successor, Major General Itai Ofir, announced the decision to drop the charges on Thursday local time.<\/p>\n “My sleep was often disturbed by thoughts about this case and its various aspects,” he wrote in a letter to fellow military prosecutors.<\/p>\n “In the end, I am at peace with the decision to cancel the indictment and believe it is the correct one under the circumstances.”<\/p>\n He said there had been “exceptional circumstances” which would prevent a fair prosecution \u2014 something defence lawyers had long argued, given the intense public debate the saga had sparked.<\/p>\n The Palestinian Prisoners’ Advocacy Center said the decision to close the investigation “represents a clear attempt to conceal acts of torture and sexual assaults carried out inside detention centres”.<\/p>\n “This decision reflects complicity between the Israeli occupation military prosecution and the security authorities overseeing the detention system, and confirms the continued policy of impunity for those responsible for serious violations against Palestinian prisoners,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n “Closing the investigation despite the existence of documented visual evidence sets a dangerous precedent in covering up such crimes.”<\/p>\n Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the decision showed Itai Ofir was the “right man for the job”.<\/p>\n “IDF fighters are the bravest and most moral warriors,” he said in a post on social media.<\/p>\n “Now all that’s left is to ensure that the ousted Military Advocate General stands trial.”<\/p>\n Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying the prosecution should have been ended sooner.<\/p>\n “It is unacceptable that it took so long to close the criminally conducted case against IDF fighters who are confronting the worst of our enemies,” he said.<\/p>\n “The State of Israel must persecute its enemies, not its heroic fighters.”<\/p>\n It is the second controversial defence issue to be scrapped under the cover of the war with Iran this week, with Mr Netanyahu and Mr Smotrich announcing legislation dealing with restoring draft exemptions for Israel’s orthodox community being shelved.<\/p>\n That legislation has threatened to tear apart the prime minister’s right-wing coalition government.<\/p>\n Allegations of abuse made by Palestinians<\/p>\n ‘I wish that no one sees what I’ve seen’: Gazans make shocking claims about being imprisoned by the IDF<\/a><\/p>\n ‘What have we done?’: Gazan boys allege sexual abuse and torture in Israeli custody<\/a><\/p>\n ‘They detain dogs with humans’: Shocking claims from Gaza detainees<\/a><\/p>\n