Israel military court extends house arrest of soldiers accused of Palestinian prisoner abuse

Israel’s military court has extended the house arrest of soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee until Sept. 4 but will allow the defence to hold a hearing on Sunday to request an alternative to detention, the military said on Thursday.

It specified such an alternative could include ‘a place of work and suitable supervisors’.

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, according to Israeli press reports.

The United Nations special rapporteur on torture has said the alleged sexual abuse case is “particularly gruesome” and called on Israel’s civilian courts to investigate and hold the perpetrators to account.

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

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.