Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
The State of Palestine has condemned Israel following reports that Israeli soldiers gang-raped Palestinian prisoners at the Sde Teiman detention facility and described the acts as war crimes that demand urgent international response.
In a communique, Palestinian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Dr Tamer Almassri, said his government was appalled and outraged by the revelations exposed through a leaked video attributed to former Israeli military prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi.
Ambassador Almassri accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of protecting the alleged perpetrators instead of denouncing the crimes.
“The fact that the Israeli Prime Minister has chosen to shield these perpetrators and condemn the leak as ‘betrayal and propaganda’ is an indication of the racist ideology that pervades the highest echelons of the Israeli government,” he said.
Ambassador Almassri said Israel’s refusal to condemn the assaults was an attempt to normalise and legitimise the use of rape as a tool of oppression against Palestinian prisoners.
“The message is clear — in Israel, even the most heinous crimes can be reframed as heroism when the victims are Palestinian,” he said.
Ambassador Almassri said reports indicated that over 10 000 Palestinians, including women and children, were currently detained in Israeli prisons where they face torture, starvation and medical neglect.
He said recent findings by a United Nations commission documented widespread and systematic abuse of Palestinian detainees in Israeli military camps and detention facilities, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ambassador also condemned a proposed Israeli Knesset bill that seeks to introduce a mandatory death penalty for certain Palestinian detainees.
“This draft bill is a dangerous and draconian measure that constitutes a war crime and represents a new manifestation of Israel’s growing extremism,” Ambassador Almassri said.
He called on the international community to take immediate and concrete action to hold Israel accountable.
“We demand that the international community activate accountability and justice mechanisms, and place Knesset members supporting this approach on terrorism lists and sanctions.”
Ambassador Almassri said Palestine would continue advocating for justice, accountability and the establishment of a sovereign state.
“The culture of impunity and fascism that has taken hold in Israel must be confronted and challenged,” he said.
“The Palestinian people’s right to freedom, dignity and justice must be respected and protected.”
