Israeli Military drops charges against soldiers accused of sexually assaulting Palestinian detainee
The Hindu
Israel's military drops charges against soldiers accused of abusing a Palestinian detainee, prompting outrage from human rights groups.
Israel's military on Thursday (March 12, 2026) said it was dropping charges against five soldiers accused of beating and sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee in an alleged assault partially caught on camera.
The decision, which came as much of the country’s attention was focused on the war with Iran, closed a flashpoint case that has bitterly divided Israel since the soldiers were arrested in 2024 at the notorious Sde Teiman military prison, prompting anger from members of the far-right government and hard-line ultranationalists who violently overran the prison in protest.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the announcement, while human rights groups accused the military of ignoring one of the gravest instances of abuse in the country’s network of wartime prisons.
“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, after the case was dismissed. She said the decision was “the latest in a long line of actions that whitewash abuses against detainees whose frequency and severity have worsened since Oct. 7, 2023.”
Mr. Netanyahu welcomed the decision, saying that “the state of Israel must pursue its enemies, not its heroic fighters.”
The now-dismissed indictment against the soldiers accused them of an assault that included dragging a Palestinian prisoner along the floor, stepping on him, tasering him, and sexually assaulting him by stabbing him in the rectum. The Palestinian was taken to an Israeli hospital with fractured ribs and a perforated rectum that required surgery before he was returned to the prison.
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