Leaked Israeli prison footage 'shows sexual abuse' of Palestinian detainee

A video leaked from an Israeli detention camp purportedly showing the abuse of a Palestinian prisoner has added to mounting allegations of sexual abuse and torture of Palestinian detainees.

The video, aired by Israel's Channel 12 broadcaster on Wednesday, documents Israeli soldiers allegedly sexually assaulting a Palestinian man at Israel’s Sde Teiman, a secret imprisonment camp in the Negev desert set up after 7 October where hundreds of people from Gaza have been held.

It is not clear how the news channel obtained the footage, which appears to be from an internal surveillance camera, or when the incident might have taken place.

The video shows at least 25 detainees lying face-down on the ground in rows as a group of masked soldiers with a dog pick one man out and take him away.

He is then taken to a corner of the yard as soldiers use shields to hide their actions from the camera as he is reportedly sexually abused. The detainee was hospitalised due to injuries caused by an object being inserted into his body, a medical report stated.

The footage comes following several investigations by rights groups, media, and an investigation by Israel's military court into alleged abuses committed by Israeli authorities against Palestinians in detention facilities.

Last week, Israeli authorities detained nine soldiers accused of attacking and raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman facility. The doctor who treated the Palestinian at hospital told Haaretz newspaper that the injuries were so horrific he did not initially believe that an Israeli "could do something like that" and felt compelled to speak out.

Their arrests caused large protests by far-right groups and politicians who argued that the soldiers should not be arrested, describing them as heroes.

Five members of the Israeli military's Force 100 Unit are currently facing trial.

Haaretz reported on Tuesday that two of the arrested reservists were found to have lied during a polygraph test as part of the investigation when they were asked if they had sexually abused detainees.

Last week, Israeli media outlets reported that the abused Palestinian detainee had been returned to the Sde Teiman facility.

The investigation comes amid the publication of a major report by Jerusalem rights group B'Tselem which details Israeli prison authorities' extensive abuse of Palestinian men, women, and children, including torture, sexual abuse, sleep and food deprivation, violence and humiliation.

The B'Tselem report released on Tuesday also followed a damning report from the UN Office for Human Rights published last week which condemned Israel’s “incommunicado” detention of Palestinians.

“The testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said.

At least 53 Palestinians are believed to have died in Israeli jails since October, either through torture-induced injuries or from being deprived of medical treatment.

Many of those detained are kept indefinitely without trial or charge, or access to lawyers or family. The UN says this could qualify as enforced disappearance, an international crime.

Israel also blocked visits to the prison from the International Red Cross Committee.

Testimonies disclosing the abuse and torture allegations have been sourced from freed detainees, Israeli whistleblowers or rights groups such as Israel Physicians for Human Rights, who is campaigning for Sde Teiman facility to be shut down, describing it as a violation of Israeli law.