Video of brutal torture of Palestinian prisoner: Military law officer resigns

The Israeli military's chief legal officer, Major-General Advocate General Yafat Tomer-Yerushalmi, has resigned. He cited the reason for his resignation as being for authorizing the release of a video of soldiers abusing a Palestinian prisoner in Gaza in August 2024.

The incident occurred during an indiscriminate Israeli raid. The video later led to criminal charges being brought against five Israeli soldiers. The video shows soldiers taking the prisoner to a separate location, where they attempted to hide their actions using riot control equipment. The soldiers were accompanied by dogs.

During the investigation, far-right politicians infiltrated the military base in protest. A security camera video of the incident was leaked by Israel's N12 news.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said a criminal investigation into the leak of the video was underway and that Tomer-Yerushalmi had been placed on compulsory leave. Tomer-Yerushalmi defended himself by saying that the purpose of releasing the video was to counter propaganda against the military’s legal department.

The video footage was obtained from the Sa’deh Teiman detention center, where some Hamas fighters who took part in the October 7, 2023 attack and Palestinians detained during Israel’s subsequent brutal campaign in Gaza were held. Human rights groups have reported serious abuse of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody during the war. However, the Israeli military claims that the abuse was not systematic.

In her resignation letter, Tomer-Yerushalmi called the prisoners “the worst kind of terrorists,” but noted that the obligation to investigate suspected abuse cannot be avoided.

Some Israeli politicians were quick to welcome the resignation. Interior Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir praised his resignation and called for more investigations into the law enforcement officials. Ben-Gavir himself has released a video showing his harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

This month, some 1,700 prisoners in Gaza were released as part of a ceasefire. Many of them say they were subjected to horrific abuse by Israeli forces while in captivity. Some Israelis held by Hamas say Ben-Gavir's arrogant remarks only made things worse. Ben-Gavir, however, claims that the allegations are actually playing into Hamas's hands.