How the Sde Teiman Scandal Revealed Israel’s Support for the Rape of Palestinian Detainees

The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem revealed in a report entitled ‘Welcome to Hell’ that 55 Palestinian prisoners confirmed in their testimonies after their release from Israeli occupation prisons that they were subjected to torture, sexual assault, humiliation, and starvation.

53 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli occupation prisons since the beginning of the war on Gaza, including 36 prisoners who lost their lives under torture in the notorious Sde Teiman prison.

Sde Teiman is an Israeli military concentration camp that was established, at the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip, inside a military base in the Negev desert in the south of the occupied territories.

This prison became notorious in recent days after the Israeli military police arrested several soldiers for committing horrific violations against detainees, including sexual assault.

The detainees there suffer from difficult conditions that have prompted human rights groups and some survivors of its hell to call the prison ‘Israel's Guantanamo’, amid demands to close it and hold accountable those involved in the torture incidents, which Haaretz says are supported by the highest levels of Netanyahu's government.

“Israeli soldiers tied the feet and legs of one of the prisoners, then an officer brought a dog that raped the prisoner.” This is the testimony of a detainee who was recently released from Sde Teiman prison.

It is noteworthy that the arbitrary arrest campaigns launched by the Israeli occupation forces have led to the number of Palestinian prisoners rising to more than 9,623, of whom more than 4,781 are without charge or trial.

The Sde Teiman Scandal

Recent reports have revealed that Israeli soldiers in the notorious Sde Teiman prison practice the most heinous forms of torture, including raping prisoners, which has led to the deaths of dozens, the latest of whom - according to what was published - was prisoner Omar Junaid (26 years old) who died on July 17, 2024.

Israeli Channel 14 interviewed an Israeli soldier from Sde Teiman Prison, who is being investigated for raping Palestinian prisoners. 

The Israeli Knesset even debated this topic after the scandal of rape at Sde Teiman Prison, with many legislators expressing that they see no problem with raping Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli Channel 12 had published a leaked video documenting an incident of Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner from Gaza at Sde Teiman prison.

The video, taken from the prison’s surveillance cameras, shows a number of Israeli reserve soldiers choosing a prisoner from among more than 30 prisoners lying on the ground in the prison yard.

In turn, B’Tselem, a human rights organization, also noted a few days ago that Israel has been implementing a systematic policy of continuous abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip, including arbitrary violence and sexual assault.

“Israel's brutal treatment of Palestinian Palestinians at Sde Teiman Prison, which includes torture and sexual abuse, constitutes war crimes,” said Sara Hashash, an Amnesty International official.

On its part, the United Nations called for an investigation and accountability of those responsible for the sexual assault of a Palestinian prisoner.

Jeremy Laurence, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR), has expressed shock over the shocking video. 

“It is one of many seen in recent months involving gross violations against Palestinian detainees by Israel,” said Laurence.

Israeli Revenge

Human rights advocates see a deep crisis in Israel’s penal system, where violence is ubiquitous, says Jessica Montell, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked.

Tal Steiner, executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, attributes the abuses in part to the atmosphere of revenge in Israel following the October 7 attack.

“It’s a combination of negative and violent individual sentiment, support from policymakers and a lack of accountability,” she says.

The chaos in Sde Teiman erupted in protest over the arrest of soldiers who raped a Palestinian prisoner, at a time when the International Criminal Court is considering issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over Israel’s war on Gaza.

On July 29, the Israeli military police arrested nine soldiers from Sde Teiman (five of whom were later released) and placed them under investigation for assaulting Palestinian prisoners, which sparked reactions in Israeli circles.

The soldiers’ detention triggered angry protests by supporters, and at least two government ministers demanded their release. 

The response underscored tensions between the military command and far-right nationalists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who advocate even harsher treatment of Palestinians detained from Gaza.

On August 7, the Israeli Supreme Court resumed hearing a petition in which five Israeli human rights groups, since last May, have been demanding the closure of Sde Teiman due to the torture and sexual assault of Palestinian detainees from Gaza, which has led to the deaths of several of them.

The groups also called on the court to begin emptying the detention center and not to consider it a permanent detention center for Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli intelligence chief Ronen Bar has warned that conditions in the country’s prisons could lead to further international legal action, writing in a letter that “Israel is finding it difficult to fend off the allegations against it, some of which appear to be justified.”

Bar concluded that “the prison crisis creates threats to Israel’s national security and to the achievement of the war aims it has set for itself.”

Israel’s far right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, condemned the people responsible for the video surfacing, rather than the soldiers carrying out the rape.

National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir suggested that any action, including gang rape, is allowed if it is for the security of the state.

Ben-Gvir, who is also responsible for the prison service, told Israeli media that “it was shameful for Israel to arrest our best heroes,” after soldiers were arrested on 29 July in relation to the rape case.

Sexual Assaults

In the same context, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor called for the dismissal of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, due to her failure to perform her duties and her failure to deal effectively with the serious crimes that Palestinian prisoners are subjected to in Israeli detention centers.

It pointed out that Edwards' failure to take public positions or condemn the widespread systematic crimes committed by “Israel” against prisoners and detainees constitutes bias and the application of double standards, especially when compared to her handling of other violations in similar countries and cases, such as China and Iran.

He added that Edwards had condemned the October 7 attack on more than one occasion, but she had never condemned Israel's serious crimes against the Palestinians since then, including the crime of genocide.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation had launched an unprecedented campaign on Gaza based on false Israeli claims that the perpetrators of the October 7 attack had raped Israeli women, and the most prominent person to repeat these lies was US President Joe Biden.

When the Israelis did not provide any evidence to support these accusations, President Biden apologized and admitted his mistake, and CNN did the same. But so far, no condemnation has been issued by President Biden himself regarding the sexual assaults on Palestinian prisoners, men and women.

In turn, Palestinian journalist Iyad Hamad explained in a statement to Al-Estiklal that killings, rapes, and starvation are taking place in all Israeli prisons.

“The video that was circulated is not the only one that proves the occupation's crimes against the Palestinians, including rape, starvation, medical negligence, killing, torture, child detention, and administrative detention,” he said.

He pointed out that “Israel, which falsely attributes itself to the civilized world, is trying to portray the rape incident that was focused on as if it were a separate and unique case.”

Mr. Hamad also stressed that all Israeli prisons that are under the guardianship of minister Itamar Ben-Gvir practice the same torture policies, pointing out that three prisoners were killed in Megiddo Prison and others in the Negev, Nafha, and Ofer prisons.