Israel launches probe into leak of video showing troops raping Palestinian prisoner

Israel is set to launch a criminal investigation to determine who leaked footage from the infamous Sde Teiman detention centre, which showed the alleged rape of a Palestinian detainee. 

The decision, made by Attorney General of Israel Gali Baharav-Miara, was announced on Wednesday and will include a probe into individuals who distributed the video aired by the Israeli Channel 12 in early August last year. 

Several lawmakers and ministers - including three who joined a storming of the prison after soldiers suspected of raping a prisoner were detained - have praised Baharav-Miara's decision. 

Defense Minister Israel Katz said he "welcomes and supports" the launch of the criminal probe, calling it a "serious affair that created a blood libel" against Israeli soldiers.

Previously, a number of Israeli officials – including far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir – called for a probe to be opened to look into individuals who captured the video and leaked it. 

Smotrich demanded "an immediate criminal investigation to locate the leakers of the trending video".

He added that the leaked clip was intended to "harm the reservists" and caused "tremendous damage to Israel in the world". He urged a move "to exhaust the full severity of the law against them".

The footage published last year purportedly showed soldiers in Sde Teiman raping a Palestinian detainee after forming a human barrier around him.

Since Israel's war on Gaza began two years ago, many Palestinians detained by Israeli forces have said they were sexually abused by troops at Sde Teiman.

However, no one had been arrested for the abuse until 29 July, when military police raided the facility, clashed with the soldiers and took them into custody.

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The incident created a backlash in Israel, with a far-right mob, which included an MP and a minister, storming the detention centre and a military court in protest against the arrests.

Torture, rape and murder have all been reported as rife at the facility, one of several facilities where Palestinians have been mistreated for decades. 

On 15 July last year, Israel's High Court issued a conditional order seeking to close Sde Teiman in response to the reports of abuse.

The court’s order seeks an explanation as to "why the Sde Teiman detention facility is not operated in accordance with the conditions set forth in the law governing internment of unlawful combatants".

However, the facility continues to operate, with fresh testimonies from former detainees recalling torture, starvation, medical neglect and poor detainment conditions. 

Investigations by Middle East Eye, CNN and the New York Times found widespread examples of abuse at the centre.