WATCH | Israeli soldiers ‘used a dog to rape’ a Palestinian detainee — Al Jazeera Gaza war documentary

‘The dog raped the young man. It raped him literally speaking’

A Palestinian captive who was detained at the notorious Sde Teiman prison in Israel recounted allegedly being forced by soldiers to watch a detainee being raped by a dog. 

The harrowing account is one of many detailed by Palestinians in an Al Jazeera documentary investigation into the war in Gaza. The documentary starts with showing footage the attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7 2023. It also shows videos of the war recorded by Israeli soldiers and leaked videos of operational soldier attacks that resulted in thousands of Palestinian civilians being killed.

Fadi Bakr, who was among men held captive in the Jewish state, said seeing a young Palestinian man being raped by a dog in the Sde Teiman prison was one of the worst experiences during his 45 days in captivity. 

“Let me tell you about the worst thing I experienced at Sde Teiman prison. They called the names of three people, and I was one of them. We went out to the cement courtyard, dedicated to one form of torture. They removed our blindfolds and we were crouching on our knees. They came and took one of the other men. They beat him and after they beat him they forced him to the ground on his belly. 

“They tied his hands and feet. There were about eight or nine soldiers. They stripped him of his underpants. A captain came and sprayed something on his backside. There was a dog there and they unleashed the dog on him. The dog raped the young man. It raped him, literally speaking,” Bakr said.

In the documentary he speaks in detail about some of the things that allegedly happen to captives in detention centres. Two months ago, Sde Teiman prison dominated the headlines after a group of soldiers were captured in a video sexually assaulting a captive.

The video of the gang rape was released through an Israeli news channel in August and shows the soldiers using their shields to hide, while allegedly taking turns to rape a prisoner. The prisoner suffered severe injuries, Al Jazeera reported. About 10 soldiers were arrested for the incident. 

The Al Jazeera documentary also includes videos of speeches made by Israelis, friends of the Jewish state and American and British leaders about the continuing bloodshed and military support offered. The videos of Israeli leaders include those which South Africa in its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) described as showing “genocidal intent”. 

Last year South Africa applied to the world court sitting in Netherlands, to make an order for the suspension of military operations in Gaza, arguing that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinian people after the attacks by Hamas on October 7. 

Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi argued Israel’s armed forces had genocidal intent to not only kill the Hamas group but Palestinians living in Gaza. Ngcukaitobi played videos and quoted comments by Israeli political and defence leaders. 

“The minister of energy and infrastructure Israel Katz called for the denial of water and fuel as ‘this is what will happen to a people of children killers and slaughterers’. This admits no ambiguity. It means to create conditions of death for the Palestinian people in Gaza. To die a slow death because of starvation and dehydration or to die quickly because of a bomb attack or snipers. But to die, nevertheless. In fact, heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu said Israel ‘must find ways for Gazans that are more painful than death’,” Ngcukaitobi told the world court. 

The documentary was published on Thursday and by Friday morning it had 199,876 views on YouTube. 

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