UN expert condemns alleged sexual assault of Palestinian in Israel custody

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, on Friday, condemned what she called a “particularly gruesome” case of the alleged sexual abuse of a Palestinian prisoner by Israeli soldiers and said the perpetrators of such crimes must be held accountable, Reuters reports.

“There are no circumstances in which sexual torture or sexualised inhuman and degrading treatment can be justified,” Special Rapporteur, Alice Jill Edwards, said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military said prosecutors have requested that soldiers accused of abusing a Palestinian detainee be placed under house arrest.

Israeli media reports said the soldiers have been accused of sexually abusing a member of an elite Hamas unit at the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev desert in southern Israel.

“This alleged sexual torture involving multiple offenders is particularly gruesome,” Edwards said, adding that Israeli authorities had informed her that several soldiers suspected of involvement were under investigation.

READ: Israel army slams public broadcaster for showing faces of soldiers detained in Sde Teiman sexual assault

All alleged crimes must be investigated and those responsible held accountable by civilian courts, she said.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters.

The United Nations has received multiple reports of alleged torture against Palestinians detained since 7 October, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters stormed Israel in a shock assault that killed some 1,200 people.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the 10 months of fighting that have followed, according to health officials in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel has also detained thousands of Palestinians, according to the United Nations statement.

Hamas reiterated its call for international judicial bodies to investigate all cases of gross violations against Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli rights group, B’Tselem, said in a report Israel has conducted a systematic policy of prisoner abuse and torture since the Gaza war erupted, subjecting Palestinian detainees to acts ranging from arbitrary violence to sexual abuse.

READ: Israel military doctor reveals shocking conditions in Sde Teiman detention centre