An Israeli investigation committee revealed the extremely difficult conditions that Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip are subjected to in the Sde Teiman camp in the Negev desert, and recommended its closure and transferring the detainees to the Israeli Prison Service.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that an advisory committee concerned with the conditions of Palestinian detainees from Gaza, headed by retired judge Ilan Schiff, submitted its findings to the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army Herzi Halevi.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that Defense Minister Yoav Galant asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to investigate National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's prevention of the police from taking action against the camp intruders.

In the same context, the head of the Israeli Labor Party, Yair Golan, called for an investigation into the involvement of police leaders, Knesset members, and ministers in what he described as an attempted coup yesterday.

He added that senior army officials confirmed that the police had refrained from sending reinforcements to the prison for 3 hours, explaining that an investigation into what happened in Sde Teiman is necessary and may lead to the office of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir himself.

In turn, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Netanyahu was absent after masked militias stormed military bases, and that ministers and representatives in his government were part of an attempted coup.

Israel witnessed unprecedented security and military tension after protesters stormed the Beit Lapid camp in central Israel, in protest against the arrest of soldiers accused of torturing and sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner.

About 1,200 Israelis surrounded the camp and the adjacent military court and demanded the release of the detained soldiers, prompting Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to suspend a meeting with army and security leaders regarding the war on the northern front, and head towards the camp.

The Israeli army also decided to withdraw forces from the West Bank and summon soldiers who were assigned to fight in the Gaza Strip to deploy around the camp and the court.

Clashes

Clashes broke out between military police officers and forces from the reserve unit suspected of torturing prisoners after they tried to prevent the soldiers from being detained for questioning.

The Israeli army said that what was happening was a state of chaos that harmed state security, and that storming the camp was a criminal offense.

For his part, Defense Minister Yoav Galant called on the police to take immediate action against those he described as lawbreakers.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that it was decided to keep one soldier in custody out of nine suspects who tortured a Palestinian prisoner.

In the same context, Channel 12 reported that the military court in Beit Lapid is holding a session today, Tuesday, to consider the charges against the nine soldiers arrested from the Sde Teiman camp.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that the army had reinforced its forces around the Beit Lapid camp ahead of the session for fear of it being stormed again.

For its part, Haaretz reported that 48 Palestinian prisoners were killed inside Israeli prisons since the beginning of the war on Gaza, noting that 36 of them were killed in Sde Teiman prison.

Haaretz reported that the army opened an investigation but has not arrested any of the accused soldiers so far.

For its part, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said that Sde Teiman camp is the largest address for torture crimes against Gaza detainees.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club confirmed that most of the Gaza detainees are still subjected to enforced disappearance, and the bodies of dozens of Gaza detainees who were martyred in camps and prisons are still being held.

The Prisoners Club called for an emergency session of the United Nations regarding the killing, torture, rape, starvation, and humiliation that prisoners are subjected to in the occupation prisons and camps.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies