9 soldiers to face court over sexual abuse of Palestinian

Jerusalem: Tensions remained high in Israel as nine soldiers were due to appear before a military court for an initial hearing Tuesday over what a defense lawyer said were allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian at a facility where Israel has held prisoners from Gaza during the war.

Hard-line nationalists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and others have protested. An investigation by The Associated Press

and reports by rights groups have exposed abysmal conditions at Sde Teiman, where most of the thousands detained in Gaza have been held.

Israeli authorities have generally denied abuses in detention facilities for Palestinians.

More bodies were found in Gaza, where the Health Ministry says over 39,300 people have been killed since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel sparked the war. Some diseases are running rampant because of appalling conditions in overcrowded tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes.

The sanitation system has collapsed, leaving pools of sewage.

Netanyahu has vowed heavy retaliation against Hezbollah after a rocket slammed into a football field over the weekend in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, killing 12 children in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. Israel accused Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Hezbollah quickly issued a rare denial of responsibility. The two have exchanged fire almost daily since the latest Israel-Hamas war began.