Israeli party leader calls for jailing lawmakers after protest over gang-rape of Gazan detainee

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) – The leader of Israel’s Labor Party called Monday for jailing Knesset members who stormed a military base in Negev to protest the arrest of soldiers accused of gang-raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman Prison.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "bears direct responsibility for the establishment of armed militias whose entire purpose is to undermine the foundations of the rule of law," Yair Golan said on X.

He condemned the raid by Israeli Knesset members as an attempt "to turn the Israeli army into armed militias."

"Those elected officials who stormed Sde Teiman must go to prison," Golan said.

Several Israeli officials took part in the protest, including Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Knesset member Tzvi Succot.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, for his part, said Netanyahu has lost control over his government.

“This is not a riot, this is an attempted coup by an armed militia against a weak prime minister who is unable to control his government,” Lapid said.

Israeli media earlier reported that a detainee from the Gaza Strip was gang-raped by Israeli soldiers at the Sde Teiman Prison in southern Israel.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN, citing a security source, said the detainee was taken to a hospital with severe injuries to an intimate body part, which left him without the ability to walk.

According to Israel’s Army Radio, 10 soldiers were detained for questioning as part of an investigation into the gruesome abuse.

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.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar