SDE TEIMAN BASE, Israel (AP) — The Israeli army said Monday it was holding nine soldiers for questioning after allegations of “serious mistreatment” of detainees at a mysterious facility that has held Palestinian prisoners throughout the Gaza war.
The military has not provided details about the alleged abuses, saying only that its chief legal officer has launched an investigation. An Associated Press investigation and reports by human rights groups have exposed poor conditions and abuse at the Sde Teyman facility, the country’s largest detention center.
A report released earlier this year by the United Nations Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said the detainees alleged they had been ill-treated and mistreated in Israeli detention facilities, without naming the facilities.
The military has generally denied mistreating detainees. After allegations of harsh treatment led to a trial, Israel announced it would transfer most of its Palestinian detainees from Sde Teyman detention center and improve facilities at the facility.
Israeli media reported that military police arriving at Sde Teyman in southern Israel to arrest the soldiers were met with protests and fights after dozens of protesters who had gathered in support of the soldiers stormed through the compound’s gates, waving Israeli flags and chanting “shame on you.”
After the military dispersed the protesters, hundreds of protesters stormed the military base and nine soldiers were taken in for questioning. Video showed crowds of protesters fighting, shoving and scuffles with soldiers inside the base. Protesters, some of whom were masked and carrying guns, and others chanted over megaphones for the soldiers’ immediate release.
Israeli army commander Lt. Gen. Helgi Halevi condemned the incursion by protesters into Sde Teyman and said he fully supported the military prosecutor’s investigation into the alleged abuses. “It is precisely these investigations that will protect soldiers in Israel and around the world and uphold the values of the army,” Halevi said.
According to official figures, Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza conflict, but hundreds have been released after the army determined they had no ties to Hamas. Israeli human rights groups say the majority of those detained passed through Sde Teyman at some point.
Israel’s Official Committee Against Torture said it welcomed the military’s investigation but said its allegations concerned systematic abuse at the facility, not just isolated incidents.
Israel has long been accused of not holding its soldiers accountable for crimes against Palestinians, allegations that intensified during the war in Gaza. Israel says its forces act within military and international law and that it independently investigates any alleged abuses.
The soldiers’ detention sparked an outcry among members of Israel’s far-right government, who said an investigation into their actions was an affront to the military.
“Our soldiers are not criminals. This despicable pursuit of our soldiers is unacceptable to me,” Yuli Edelstein, a veteran lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, wrote on Platform X.
The seizures come as international mediators are trying to get Hamas and Israel to agree to a ceasefire that would end the war in Gaza and release the remaining 110 hostages being held there.
Egyptian and Hamas officials said on Monday that mediators were still working to resolve the sticking points.
Officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations said at issue were new demands for Israel to maintain a presence along a strip of land on the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphia Corridor and the highway that crosses the strip separating north and south Gaza.
Israel says it needs to control the highway to stop militants from returning to the north when civilians are eventually allowed to return. Currently, local forces are blocking displaced people from returning to the north, monitoring those fleeing to the south, and arresting anyone suspected of having ties to militants.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive discussions with media.
Israel is refusing to withdraw from the area between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the ceasefire, they said. Israel is linking its troop withdrawal from the border corridor to the installation of underground sensors and underground walls to monitor for any future attempts by Hamas to build tunnels or smuggle weapons, they said.
Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel alleges Hamas is using tunnels under the corridor to smuggle weapons, a charge Egypt denies and says it destroyed many of the weapons in previous crackdowns.
In early May, Israeli forces launched an invasion of Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, taking control of the Philadelphia Corridor along with the Rafah checkpoint connecting Egypt and Gaza.
An Egyptian official said no agreement had been reached on the reopening of the corridor and Rafah, adding that Egypt and Israel were continuing direct talks on a compromise.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby declined to comment on Monday on reports that Israel was stepping up its demands, saying the administration still believed it was “close” to reaching a deal.
“We have teams working today to close those gaps,” Kirby told reporters. “Again, we believe we can close the gap.”
Hamas in a statement condemned the Israeli demands, saying Netanyahu had “returned to his strategy of procrastinating, delaying and avoiding reaching an agreement by introducing new conditions and demands.”
A Hamas official said the group plans to submit a written response to Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries in the next few days.
“The Hamas leadership is blocking the agreement by demanding changes,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The US-backed plan calls for a three-phase ceasefire, starting with a 45-day ceasefire and partial release of hostages, during which the two sides would hold negotiations for a second phase that would lead to the full release of hostages in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas wants written guarantees that the ceasefire will continue until an agreement is reached, but Israeli officials have said they want to put a deadline on the talks.
CIA Director William Burns, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Mossad director David Barnea in Rome on Sunday to discuss Israel’s latest demands.
Magdy reported from Cairo.
For more AP coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
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