Israel faces backlash amid fresh evidence of war crimes

- Israeli media reports gang-rape of Palestinian detainee by 10 soldiers in Sde Teiman Prison

ISTANBUL

Israel faced a fresh wave of war crimes accusations Monday after footage emerged of its troops demolishing a reservoir of drinking water in the southern Gaza Strip, along with gruesome reports of soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian detainee at a prison in the Negev Desert.

A force in the city of Rafah from the 401st Brigade of the Armored Corps “blew up the central reservoir last week on the orders of the brigade commanders,” the Israeli daily Haaretz said.

One of the soldiers posted a video of the explosion on social media with the caption “Destruction of the Tel Sultan water reservoir in honor of Shabbat,” it noted.

The daily claimed that the blast, in which explosive devices were used, happened “without receiving permission from the senior level of the Southern Command.”

The army “is conducting an investigation into a suspected violation of international law, following the explosion of a drinking water reservoir in Rafah by a force operating in the area,” the paper noted.

Haaretz said that at the end of the initial probe, a decision would be made on whether to open another investigation by the country's military police.

The water reservoir was located in Rafah's northwestern Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, most of which was not evacuated by the army, it said, adding that this area is "near the humanitarian areas that the army has defined as safe to stay."

The Israeli military has refused to comment, but military sources confirmed the details, it said.

The UN Human Rights Office said on Monday that under international humanitarian law, it is "strictly prohibited" to attack objects essential to the survival of the civilian population, including water supplies.

Noting that the office is aware of the footage showing the reservoir's detonation and destruction, spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told Anadolu: "It is indeed strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law to attack civilian objects."

"Moreover, it is prohibited to attack objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as drinking water supplies," Laurence added.

He also criticized Israel's inability to ensure accountability under international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL), arguing that international action was required to fill the gap.

"The Human Rights Office has received no information on any investigations by Israel into the specific incident of the destruction of the water reserve," he said.

He stressed, "In view of Israel's well-documented failure to ensure accountability for serious violations of IHL and IHRL, remedies at the international level are essential to addressing this long-standing accountability gap."

Palestinian detainee gang-raped

In a separate development on Monday, Israeli media reported that 10 soldiers gang-raped a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman Prison in the Negev desert in southern Israel.

Citing a security source, public broadcaster KAN said the detainee was taken to a hospital with severe injuries to an intimate body part, leaving him unable to walk.

According to KAN, Israeli police investigators arrived at Sde Teiman to detain the soldiers involved in the rape.

Israel's Army Radio reported that 10 soldiers were detained for questioning as part of an investigation into the gruesome abuse.

Several reports emerged of severe abuses against Palestinian detainees at the notorious facility since the start of Israel's ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Currently, Israel's Supreme Court is considering a petition filed by Israeli human rights organizations to close the Sde Teiman prison, where Palestinian detainees from Gaza face torture and medical neglect.

In recent months, the army has released dozens of Palestinian detainees from Gaza in deteriorating health conditions, with their bodies bearing torture scars.

*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul