The Israeli army announced on Monday, July 29, the arrest of nine soldiers as part of an investigation opened for alleged mistreatment of a detainee in a detention center where Palestinians from Gaza have been held since the start of the war on October 7.
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An army spokesman confirmed to AFP that nine soldiers had been “ arrested for questioning ” in connection with this case. According to Israeli media reports, the detainee is a Palestinian who was allegedly mistreated in the Sde Teiman detention center in the Negev desert in southernIsrael.
The spokesman had previously said that the investigation had been opened “ following suspicions of serious mistreatment of a detainee at the Sde Teiman detention centre “, without further details.
The affair immediately took a political turn, explains our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michel PaulFar-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Betsalel Smotrich have publicly said the soldiers deserve full support. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party speaks of a grim vision. This is a moral distortion that stems from the decisions of the Supreme Court. “, said the Minister of Justice.
Israelis, including ultra-nationalist MK Zvi Sukkot, also rushed to the detention center in support of the soldiers. Some tried to force their way in before being pushed back by police, according to footage broadcast by Israeli television. Later, television showed footage of other protesters gathered outside the military base where the detained soldiers were being questioned by investigators.
” Widespread torture »
Senior Israeli officials, including the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuand the army chief, General Herzi Halevi, condemned these spontaneous demonstrations. Entering a military base and disturbing order is serious behaviour that is not acceptable under any circumstances.denounced Herzi Halevi in a statement. We are in the middle of a war and actions of this type endanger the security of the state. “, he added. The Prime Minister, for his part, ” Strongly condemned the intrusion into an Israeli army compound “, referring to the detention center, calling for a return to calm, according to a statement released by his office.
The Sde Teiman detention center was set up to hold Palestinians arrested in the Gaza Strip after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7 after the Palestinian Islamist movement launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil.
In mid-July, Amnesty International urged Israel to stop placing ” in secret » Palestinians from Gaza and to subject them to a ” widespread torture ” in its jails. The NGO said it had collected information on 27 Palestinians who were detained and who all reported to Amnesty that they had been subjected to acts of torture and other ” cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment ” The Israeli army had rejected these allegations.
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