Israel: Nine soldiers arrested, suspected of mistreating a prisoner

A military spokesman tells the AFP news agency that the soldiers will be questioned. The suspicion concerns incidents at a prison facility where Palestinian prisoners arrested in the Gaza Strip have been kept confined.

Earlier, the newspaper Haaretz reported that several soldiers were arrested on Monday following accusations of gross mistreatment of a Palestinian prisoner in Sde Teiman prison.

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.

Confrontation

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 when the military police wanted to arrest them, and they allegedly barricaded themselves in the facility.

It has also been reported that soldiers used pepper spray against the military police, writes Haaretz.

The newspaper also reports that dozens of civilians, including members of the national assembly Knesset, broke into the base in protest against the arrests.

A video shows Zvi Sucot, who is a member of the religious party of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leading the way as a group of protesters force their way into the gate of the base while shouting slogans against the arrests.

The police then arrived and escorted the protesters out of the base, where they continued their protest.

Protesting against arrest

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, says the soldier.

Israeli 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.

Netanyahu condemns

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns that protesters entered the base and calls for calm around the situation. Army Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also condemn the entry into the base.

Gallant makes it clear that he respects the soldiers tasked with guarding Palestinian prisoners, but that the investigation must be allowed to take its course.

Haaretz quotes witnesses as saying that soldiers in the force at the Sde Teiman base have been involved in several violent episodes in the past.

One witness says that on one occasion they asked prisoners to lie down on the floor, after which they threw a stun grenade into their midst and kicked them hard. Others claim that prisoners were beaten with clubs.