The Israeli authorities must fully investigate alleged incidents of rape against Palestinian detainees and hold those responsible to account, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.
The Israeli N12 broadcaster published CCTV footage on Tuesday, allegedly showing troops from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) using a broomstick to sexually abuse a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility, dubbed by the media as ‘Israel’s Guantanamo Bay.’ The victim, who is claimed to be a member of a Hamas special forces unit, was reportedly hospitalized in a life-threatening condition with injuries to his rectum and upper body.
Ten Israeli servicemen were detained in late July over the incident, being accused of aggravated sodomy, causing bodily harm, abuse, and conduct unbecoming of a soldier. Five of them remain in custody. Following the arrests, a mob of far-right activists and lawmakers angered by the prosecution of the IDF troops broke into the Sde Teiman facility, and later tried to storm the Beit Lid base where the suspects were being held.
During his briefing on Wednesday, Miller confirmed that officials in Washington had seen the video in question.
“Reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific. They ought to be investigated fully by the government of Israel, by the IDF,” he stressed. The investigation should proceed “swiftly” and if any violations are found those responsible “of course… ought to be held accountable,” the spokesman added.
The human rights of prisoners should be respected “in all cases,” Miller said. “There ought to be zero tolerance for sexual abuse, rape of any detainee, period… it is a fundamental belief of the US.”
Commenting on the protesters storming Israeli prisons and attempts by some lawmakers to justify the rape of Palestinian detainees, Miller stated that “the principle that we believe ought to apply in Israel is a principle that ought to apply anywhere in the world, and that is that the rule of law needs to hold.”
An Israeli group called ‘Guarding the Soldiers’ lashed out at the N12 channel for releasing the rape video, claiming in a statement that it was “a distorted presentation of reality is a serious injury to the soldiers, who left their homes and went out to fight for the State of Israel.”
The Israeli government has accused Hamas fighters of sexually abusing and raping women during the incursion into Israel by the Palestinian armed group on October 7, in which around 1,200 people were killed and some 250 taken hostage. According to Gaza’s health ministry, 39,677 people have been killed and more than 91,645 others wounded in airstrikes and a ground offensive carried out by the IDF in the Palestinian enclave in response to the attack by Hamas.
Allegations of severe abuse at Sde Teiman – including the anal rape of prisoners, blindfolding, extreme physical restraint, and prolonged handcuffing – first surfaced in a CNN report in May. Israel has insisted that captive Palestinians are being treated in accordance with international law.