Israel’s military court has extended the house arrest of soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee until September 4. However, the court has allowed the defense to request an alternative to detention, which could include supervised work placements.
The accused soldiers are alleged to have committed sexual abuse against a member of an elite Hamas unit at the Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel. The United Nations special rapporteur on torture has condemned the case as “particularly gruesome” and has called for a thorough investigation by Israel’s civilian courts.
The U.N. has reported multiple allegations of torture against Palestinians detained since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, which resulted in around 1,200 deaths in Israel. In the subsequent 10 months of conflict, more than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials.
