Another Israeli soldier indicted over abuse allegations

By James Mackenzie

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Israeli military issued an indictment on Tuesday against a reservist soldier accused of severe abuse of Palestinian prisoners, in a case that followed a furore over separate abuse allegations against Israeli soldiers.

The indictment alleges that the soldier beat, handcuffed and blindfolded detainees with a club or with his weapon as they were being transported, and videoed his actions, the military said in a statement.

The alleged actions took place between February and June this year, it said.

The indictment comes a day after right-wing Israeli protesters broke into two military facilities after military police detained nine soldiers over separate allegations of severe abuse of a detainee captured in Gaza.

The protests were denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the head of the army, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, who described them as "bordering on anarchy".

However, the protests underscored longstanding tensions in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu between hardline nationalist-religious parties and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the army command.

Right wing protesters, including Netanyahu's hardline nationalist-religious coalition partners, have reacted with fury to the abuse allegations against the soldiers, saying they had been doing their duty.

According to Israeli press reports, the soldiers have been accused of sexually abusing the prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel.

Army Radio reported that the detainee had been a member of an elite unit of the Islamist armed group Hamas who had been captured in Gaza during the Israeli offensive there that followed the group's Oct. 7 attack.

The Israeli rights group, Physicians for Human Rights - Israel said it knew the victim was hospitalized three weeks ago in a life threatening condition, with upper body injuries and severe injuries to the rectum.

Asked whether it could confirm the reports, the military said that the Military Advocate General had initiated an investigation.

"Nine suspects from the base were taken in for questioning by the Military Police regarding the abuse allegations," it said, without providing more details.

HORRIFIC TESTIMONIES

Earlier the association representing Palestinian prisoners called for an international inquiry into allegations of abuse of detainees in Israeli jails since the start of the war in Gaza.

"Every day, as we witness the massacres against our people in Gaza, we hear horrific and harsh testimonies from legal teams and detainees who are released," said Qadura Fares, head of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission.

He said the Israeli investigation into the Sde Teiman incident was a "farce."

Widespread reports of mistreatment of detainees in Israeli prisons have added to international pressure on Israel over its conduct of the Gaza war.

The Israeli military said on Monday the investigation into the Israeli soldiers was ordered "following suspected substantial abuse of a detainee". It provided no further details.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Ali Sawafta; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Conor Humphries)