MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Israel has detained a group of soldiers on allegations that they sexually assaulted a detainee from Gaza. It's one of the most prominent cases of abuse that Israeli authorities have investigated during the Gaza war. NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv reports that some Israelis have come to the soldiers' defense. And we should warn listeners - this report includes graphic details of the alleged sexual abuse.
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DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Israeli ultranationalist lawmakers and demonstrators stormed facilities where Israeli soldiers were being detained on suspicion of assaulting a Palestinian detainee. The soldiers' job was to guard Gazan detainees at a base. Some of those held there were suspected of being in Hamas' elite Nukhba force that led the October 7 attack, the deadliest day in Israeli history. Far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, released a video with a message for Israel's military advocate general.
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ESTRIN: He said, "Take your hands off the soldiers. Our warriors deserve full support." Defense lawyers say the soldiers deny the assault allegations. They say the detainee attacked them, so they subdued him. Israeli TV broadcasted what it said was security camera footage of Israel Defense Forces soldiers leading away the detainee, who did not resist, and then holding up their shields, hiding what they did. U.S. State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller.
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MATTHEW MILLER: We have seen the video, and reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific. They ought to be investigated fully by the government of Israel, by the IDF.
ESTRIN: Naji Abbas is with the Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights.
NAJI ABBAS: We believe that the only reason why an investigation was opened from the first place and after that the case was revealed is because the victim was injured very bad, that he needed to be transferred outside of the detention facility.
ESTRIN: An Israeli medical official familiar with the details of the case told NPR the detainee had a life-threatening rectal injury, which showed signs of sexual assault from a deeply inserted foreign object. The medical official called it horrifying. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, concerned about facing attacks from the soldiers' supporters, given that the case has sparked a stormy public debate.
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ESTRIN: In Israel's parliament, an Arab lawmaker said, "Is inserting a rod into a person's rectum legitimate?" A lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party answered, "Yes, if he's in the elite Hamas Nukhba force, everything is legitimate to do to him."
It's unclear if the detainee in question was an elite Hamas militant at all.
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ESTRIN: Justice protesters last week stormed detention facilities in support of the detained soldiers. This week, protesters broke into a hearing of Israel's Supreme Court, as the justices considered a petition to shut down the facility where the alleged abuse took place. Rights groups and media outlets, including NPR, have reported accounts of abuse from detainees who were held there. As a result of the court petition, Israel has transferred most of the Palestinian detainees out of the facility.
In the suspected sexual assault case, the Israeli military says it's keeping five soldiers in custody and that evidence shows a, quote, "reasonable suspicion they committed serious abuse." Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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