Israeli army top lawyer resigns after video shows soldiers torturing Palestinian prisoner

By Khaled Yousef and Mohammad Sio

JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL (AA) - Israeli military prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned on Friday following the leak of a video from a notorious detention facility in southern Israel, showing soldiers violently beating a Palestinian prisoner.

Following her resignation, Tomer-Yerushalmi acknowledged responsibility for authorizing the release of “material to the media in an attempt to repel the false propaganda against law enforcement authorities in the military,” the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

Israel’s Army Radio said Tomer-Yerushalmi announced her resignation at a meeting with Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.

The Israeli army said Wednesday it launched a criminal investigation into the leak of the Sde Teiman video, which depicts soldiers severely beating a Palestinian detainee last year.

“The Military Police Criminal Investigation Division has opened an investigation into the release of the video from Sde Teiman, including the possible involvement of members of the Military Advocate General’s Office,” the army said in a statement.

The footage, leaked in August 2024, shows soldiers at Sde Teiman dragging a Palestinian prisoner lying face down before surrounding him with riot shields and assaulting him. The detainee was later hospitalized with serious injuries.

The video sparked widespread condemnation from human rights groups and calls to close the ill-famed Sde Teiman facility, where Israel detains Palestinians from Gaza amid mounting reports of systematic abuse and mistreatment.