LONDON
Uproar ensued earlier this week following reports of severe sexual abuse of a Palestinian detainee at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman Prison.
But, demands for accountability have been met with steep resistance as far-right protesters stormed the military courthouse where the soldiers involved were taken for questioning.
According to one legal expert, the only explanation for the incident and the events that followed is Israel’s "institutionalized impunity," facilitated by the Global North.
Israeli media reported Monday that 10 soldiers gang raped the Palestinian detainee at the prison in the southern Negev desert. This was followed by the detention and interrogation of nine of the soldiers as part of an investigation into the gruesome abuse.
Zaki Sarraf, a legal officer at the International Center of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), said that this shocking incident can only be understood when examined "through the prism of absolute Israeli impunity."
"Because whatever war crimes Israel commits, their allies, including the US and UK, obfuscate, they deflect and provide diplomatic cover.
"And so, this cover provides the license for Israel to continue doing whatever it pleases," Sarraf told Anadolu.
He went on to say that Israel carries out these acts knowing that, outside the occasional statement, it has faced "no real repercussions for its actions," while Palestinians continue to be "killed or brutalized" in the way that the Palestinian prisoner was brutalized at Sde Teiman.
Despite the gravity of the charges, Sarraf is "not very optimistic" that Israeli authorities will conduct a serious investigation into the matter, given the "decades of war crimes we've seen from Israel" that have prompted no adequate due process.
He highlighted, however, the importance of other avenues for accountability, referring to an investigation done by the International Criminal Court.
"This culture of impunity that Israel has enjoyed for decades now should come to an end, and so its allies, such as the US and UK, cannot continue to provide the license for Israel to continue doing whatever it pleases without any repercussions," explained Sarraf.
The "absolutely horrible" treatment of the Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers is an indication of the absolute impunity Israel has enjoyed, he said.
"This is reflected in Israeli lawmakers, soldiers, and the general public, and this institutionalized impunity is facilitated by the Global North," he noted.
Bringing Israel's impunity to an end
Sarraf noted that Israel has around 4,000 Palestinian prisoners detained without charge or trial under administrative detention, with torture, sexual assault, and deprivation of food and water being "commonplace" for the detainees.
"Now is the time to ensure the protection of Palestinian prisoners, the protection of civilians, and to ensure that all the perpetrators within the Israeli military, including the ones that are responsible for the gang raping of a Palestinian civilian, are held to account."
In the absence of such action, Israel's allies such as the US and UK are only making "empty statements" with nothing to back them, he added.
Sarraf says the abuse at Sde Teiman can be considered as nothing other than a grave breach and a war crime.
He said further evidence of Israel's impunity is the backing that the soldiers have received from Israeli politicians, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, in which one lawmaker defended the practice of gang-raping Palestinian detainees.
Noting that members of Israel’s military and its parliament, the Knesset, protested the soldiers’ detention, he said this was "completely indefensible in terms of the actions taken by the Israeli military,
"And I think the silence is deafening in terms of the international community in regards to this incident."
For Sarraf, world leaders should be protesting this specific incident, ensuring that Israel's impunity comes to an end, and the perpetrators of such actions are held to account.
"Anything falling short of which would be an absolute disaster and running counter to elements of international law," he added.
Several reports emerged of severe abuses against Palestinian detainees at the notorious facility since the start of Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army is believed to have detained thousands of Palestinians, including women, children, and medics since Oct. 7, 2023.
In recent months, the army has released dozens of Palestinian detainees from Gaza in deteriorating health conditions, with their bodies bearing torture scars.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.
More than 39,360 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 91,000 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
