WEST BANK: Israeli army court has sentenced three Israeli armed soldiers to short prison terms for abusing a Palestinian man and obstructing an investigation into the incident, a rare punishment by the military against members of its forces.
With hundreds of cases of Palestinian citizens killed by Israeli forces neither investigated nor punished, human rights organisations regularly accuse Israel of initiating criminal proceedings for a fraction of the crimes allegedly committed by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians.
The Israeli military said the soldiers were convicted of abuse, and a third was convicted of exceeding his authority and endangering a man’s life or health.
The Israeli military said that the three soldiers, and a fourth, took the Palestinian man in a military four-wheel drive and drove to an unidentified “distant location.” During the drive and afterwards, “violence was used against the victim,” and he was left in a remote location.
The Israeli military said the soldiers, whose identities were withheld, “hid the information of the incident from their commanders to prevent [army officials] from opening an investigation and coordinated their versions regarding the information of the incident.”
Two Israeli soldiers were sentenced to 60 days in prison for abuse, while the third Isreali soldiers was sentenced to 40 days for exceeding his authority and endangering the Palestinian person’s life or health. All were demoted and given additional suspended sentences for obstructing court proceedings, the statement said.
A fourth Israeli soldier, indicted for assault, abuse under aggravated situations, threats, and additional offences, is still pending trial.
According to Israeli army data obtained by the human rights group Yesh Din, in the five years between 2017 and 2021, the army received 1,260 alleged offences by Israeli armed soldiers against Palestinians, including 409 cases involving the killing of Palestinian citizens.
