Athens: The Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel was rocked by demonstrations on Monday as dozens of protesters – including several right-wing members of the Knesset – clashed with military police.
Demonstrators waved Israeli flags and chanted “shame,” as nine Israel Defense Forces reservists were arrested and detained for allegedly abusing a Palestinian man so severely that he was hospitalized.
With domestic political tensions rising and the war in Gaza showing no sign of abating, many are wondering whether the widely reported torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody will deepen political rifts in Israel.
Protests were expected in Sde Teiman, especially after Israeli lawmakers made statements about the treatment of Palestinians in custody. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir took to X on Monday to post: “Take your hands off our reserves!”
Even more shocking is the brazen support of torture by some Israeli politicians. Asked by a fellow member of the Knesset if there was any justification for sexually abusing prisoners, Likud Party MK Hanoch Milvidsky shouted: “Yes! If he is a Nukhba (Hamas fighter), everything is legal! “
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also condemned the arrests at X, demanding the release of the reservists – whom he called “IDF heroes” – and calling on those who ordered their arrests to be dismissed.
Videos posted on social media also showed far-right MP Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionist Party and Amiche Eliyahu, Minister of Heritage of Otzma Yehudit, entering Sede Teiman's custody.
The Sde Teiman protests escalated after protesters learned that detained reservists were being held at the Beit Lied military base north of Tel Aviv, where they attempted to enter the detention center to free the soldiers.
Although their faces were covered, many members of the reserves unit joined the protest in full military uniform.
Allegations of torture of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli forces have grown over the years – even more so since the October 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel fueled the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report on Wednesday alleging that at least 53 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody since the start of the war, and that they have been subjected to waterboarding, electrocution and sleep deprivation.
The Israeli Prison Service has denied all allegations, claiming that Israeli prisons do not violate prisoners' rights.
An OHCHR report found that between October and the end of June, more than 9,400 Palestinians were detained in Israel, many of whom were not given access to a lawyer.
Since October 7, thousands of Palestinians – including doctors, patients, residents and captured fighters – have been taken from Gaza to Israel, “generally bound and blindfolded,” the OHCHR report said.
INnumbers
• 53 Palestinian prisoners are believed to have died in Israeli custody since October 7.
• 9,400 Palestinians are detained in Israel from October to the end of June.
estuary: OHCHR
Thousands more are detained in the West Bank and Israel. “They are generally held incommunicado, due to their detention, without access to a lawyer or effective judicial review,” the OHCHR added.
Testimony in the report suggested that Israel had subjected prisoners to “a range of appalling acts, such as water-boarding prisoners and letting dogs loose on prisoners,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement accompanying the report.
Many Palestinians who were released reported treatment including “severe beatings, electric shocks, prolonged stress positions, or waterboarding.” The report said the detainees were blackmailed, “burned with cigarettes, and given hallucinogenic pills.”
It said it had “reasonable grounds to believe” that Israel and Palestinian armed groups had committed gross violations and abuses of the right to life, liberty and freedom from torture and other ill-treatment since October 7.
It included the use of “rape and other forms of sexual violence”, warning that the abuses could amount to war crimes. In addition to calling for an end to abuses, the OHCHR urged all parties to “immediately end all forms of arbitrary detention, including the holding of hostages.”
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The report's summary noted the “shocking” number of detainees, including men, women, children, journalists and human rights defenders.
“Detainees said they were kept in cages, stripped naked for long periods of time, wearing only diapers. Their testimony described being blindfolded, deprived of food, sleep and water for long periods of time,” the summary said.
Some detainees said that “their hands were tied and they were suspended from the ceiling,” while “some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence.”
About 9,600 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli jails, including hundreds in administrative detention where they can be held for long periods of time without charge, according to the Prisoners' Club, a Palestinian rights watchdog.
Not all Israelis have defended the alleged actions of the arrested reservists, nor do they support the use of torture and the violation of the human rights of Palestinian prisoners.
“Are you in favor of rape? Is it part of Judaism?” Israeli human rights activist Yariv Oppenheimer responded to Belal Smotrich's post on X.
Israeli writer Hein Mazig condemned the protests, which he said members of the media were verbally and physically attacked.
“Israel's investigation (of the reservists) should be allowed to proceed. This protest and the politicians who encourage it do nothing to help Israel. It only gives more material to those who hate us,” he posted on X on Monday.
Only a few Israeli government officials have condemned the storming of demonstrations and detention facilities, chief among them Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel.
“Even when angry, the law applies to everyone – don't leave IDF bases and don't violate the laws of the State of Israel,” Gallant posted on X.
“I call on the Israeli police to take immediate action against those who violate the law and on all elected officials to refrain from irresponsible statements that drag the IDF into the political arena,” he said in a separate post.
In a statement on Monday, IDF Chief of General Staff Herzey Halevi said the break-ins at IDF bases were “extremely serious and against the law.”
However, despite these condemnations, Israeli security forces at IDF military bases were indifferent to the protesters, and there have been no reported arrests or arrests of those involved.
The day after the protests saw a rousing meeting in the Knesset after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the mob for vandalizing IDF bases.
Despite efforts by right-wing activists and lawmakers to release the captured reservists, the detention of eight of the original 10 reservists was extended this morning and will remain in custody until Sunday, according to the IDF.
The suspects could face charges of aggravated sexual assault, assault and disorderly conduct toward a soldier, among other charges.
