Clashes in an Israeli camp after the arrest of soldiers who tortured Palestinian prisoners

Israeli protesters stormed the Sde Teman camp after interrogating soldiers accused of torturing prisoners from Gaza, and Israeli government and parliamentary figures expressed their solidarity with those involved in torture.

The Israeli military police arrested 10 soldiers from the camp to investigate them on charges of torturing prisoners from Gaza.

In response to the move, clashes took place in the Sde Timan camp in the Negev between investigators and soldiers from a unit accused of abusing prisoners.

The soldiers accused of abusing prisoners refused to cooperate with the military police.

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said that the scene of military police arriving “to arrest heroes in the Sde Teman camp in the Negev is very shameful,” as he put it.

Members of the Knesset (from the Religious Zionist Party) went to the Sde Teman camp to support soldiers accused of torturing prisoners.

According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, 10 Israeli soldiers beat a Palestinian prisoner from the Gaza Strip in the Sde Teman army prison, causing him to be seriously injured.

The commission said, "An unusual incident in Sde Teman: Military police investigators arrived this morning at the detention center near (the city of) Beersheba (south) as part of an investigation into the prison conditions of a Palestinian from Gaza."

According to Israeli Army Radio, 10 reserve soldiers were arrested.

The newspaper "Haaretz" quoted an Israeli soldier serving in the Sde Teman camp as saying, "There is no officer managing the event and we have lost control," and that there are no security forces that can deal with the demonstrators.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that Benjamin Netanyahu strongly condemned the storming of the Sde Teman camp, and requested "immediate calm of the souls."

Human rights organizations reported a serious deterioration in conditions in overcrowded Israeli prisons and the spread of violence.

Speaking to the newspaper, Jessica Montiel, executive director of the Israel-based HaMoked Human Rights Organization, said, “Violence is everywhere, overcrowding, every prisoner we met lost 30 kilograms of weight.”

Eyewitnesses documented that guards raided all the cells in the ward and handcuffed the inmates before beating them.

Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia + Israeli press