By Said Amori
JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli military court decided Sunday to extend the detention of five soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee from Gaza at Sde Teiman Prison in the Negev desert in southern Israel, local media reported.
Their detention has been extended until next Tuesday, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.
On July 29, Israel’s official broadcasting authority KAN reported that 10 Israeli soldiers had been detained after causing serious injuries to the Palestinian detainee, but five of them were later released.
Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights reports have recently indicated that prisoners from Gaza have been tortured at the prison, which has led to the deaths of dozens of them.
The Israeli Supreme Court is considering a petition submitted by local human rights organizations to close the notorious prison, where Palestinian detainees have also suffered medical neglect.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Nearly 39,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 91,400 injured, according to local health authorities.
Almost 10 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, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala