Haaretz: Israeli soldiers arrested for gross mistreatment of Palestinian prisoner

According to security sources, the Palestinian prisoner was sent to hospital with serious injuries to his abdomen, which left him unable to walk. The age and condition of the person concerned are not known.

The arrests led to a confrontation between the military police and the soldiers. Some of the soldiers refused to come out of the military base, and barricaded themselves in the facility. It has also been reported that soldiers used pepper spray against the military police, writes the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

A soldier says in a recording from the arrest that the soldiers stand together “against the IDF arresting our fellow soldiers”. Another soldier said: “The military police came to arrest us because we are responsible for Nukhba terrorists. Everyone in Israel should demonstrate for us, I can’t handle the shame of them arresting me when I have given my life to you, for my country”.

The IDF said in a statement that the military police opened an investigation into the case following suspicions of serious ill-treatment of a prisoner held at Sde Teiman prison, and that it occurred on the orders of the military prosecutor’s office.

Israel’s Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir describes the arrests as shameful and asks the IDF chiefs of staff and the military authorities to support the soldiers and learn from the prison service.