The Israeli army admitted, on Thursday, the conviction of a reserve soldier for committing brutal acts of abuse against Palestinian prisoners while serving as a guard in the "Sde Teiman" military command. Despite this, the Israeli judiciary issued a lenient sentence against the soldier, sentencing him to no more than 7 months in prison.

The Israeli army said in a statement that the soldier admitted to physically assaulting Palestinian prisoners held in the detention facility set up by the occupation army at the "Sde Teiman" base on several occasions, despite their hands being tied and blindfolded.

According to the Israeli army statement, the soldier beat the detainees with punches and used his weapon to assault them, in actions some of which were documented on his mobile phone, while a number of soldiers witnessed the incident, some of whom tried to stop him from doing so.

Despite the soldier's confession to his crimes, the military court issued a lenient sentence of only 7 months in prison, with his rank reduced to ordinary soldier and a suspended prison sentence, as part of a plea bargain between the military prosecution and the convicted soldier.

While the court described the soldier's actions as "serious and in violation of military rules," it justified its acceptance of the plea bargain by pointing to "his personal circumstances and his cooperation during the investigation," in a ruling that reflects the continued leniency with soldiers' crimes against Palestinian prisoners.

The statement issued by the Israeli army said that the military court decided that the defendant's actions were "serious and grave," and said that Israeli army soldiers are obligated to use the force entrusted to them in accordance with what it described as "army values" and military orders, at all times, especially during war.

He added, "Based on the balance between the seriousness of the acts and the personal circumstances of the accused, and his responsibility which he acknowledged during the mediation process, in addition to the long period of detention that he will have to serve after his release from detention, the court decided to approve the plea bargain."