Israeli crowd applauds soldiers accused of raping Palestinian prisoner

Two Israeli soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian detainee were met with cheers as they arrived at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on Monday.

Supporters in the courtroom shouted “We are all Unit 100,” referring to the military unit to which the suspects belong, according to Israel’s Channel 14.

Footage shared on social media showed the two men, their faces concealed by hats, sunglasses and masks, embracing each other as some in the room applauded.

The hearing concerned a dispute over who would lead the investigation into the leak of a video showing their assault on a Palestinian detainee last year.

The case follows last month’s revelations implicating the army’s former chief legal adviser, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, in the leak of the footage to Channel 12 - a scandal that caused uproar in Israel.

Right-wing politicians, journalists and activists accused Tomer-Yerushalmi of persecuting Israeli soldiers and damaging Israel’s image internationally. She resigned shortly after the revelations and was subsequently arrested by Israeli police.

A rift has since emerged between Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara over who should head the probe into the leak. Levin has sought to appoint his own legal adviser, while Baharav-Miara insists the case should remain under the state prosecution’s authority.

Israeli soldiers involved in the rape of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention camp in July 2024 were applauded as they appeared in court on Tuesday in Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/D5qn6a1MYg

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) November 12, 2025

The two guards who were greeted with applause are among five members of the unit charged by the Israeli military with aggravated assault of a Palestinian prisoner.

In the leaked video, several soldiers are seen beating a Palestinian man lying helpless on the ground. They then drag him aside and gang-rape him behind riot shields.

The detainee was later hospitalised with severe internal injuries and rectal trauma, requiring multiple surgeries.

Calls to drop the case

Although the military prosecution initially considered rape charges, they were ultimately dropped from the indictment.

The trial of the five guards is being held before a military court.

Guards from Unit 100, which was stationed at the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp and accused of systematic abuses against Palestinian detainees, have claimed that the investigation against them is a "smear campaign". 

In Israel, raping Palestinian prisoners is justified. Leaking the footage is betrayal

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"The injustice done to us is obvious to the people of Israel," one guard told the Israeli news outlet Channel 7 on Tuesday.

"We came to serve the people and the state with dedication, and now, in these crazy days, we find ourselves defamed by those who were supposed to protect us."

Last week, one of the suspects' lawyers said following the investigation into the video leak that the case against them should be dropped. 

"We are demanding justice," he told reporters outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem.

"The very least that must be done is to immediately cancel the trial and prosecute all those who took part, turned a blind eye, or lent a hand to this travesty."

According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights' report, during Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Palestinian detainees held in Israeli facilities have been subjected to systematic torture.

Released detainees gave accounts of rape, forced stripping, filmed assaults, sexual abuse using objects and dogs, and psychological humiliation by Israeli guards.

Last month, dozens of Palestinian bodies returned by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement showed signs of abuse and torture. Some of the bodies arrived from Sde Teiman.