Medical opinion suggests 'raped' Hamas terrorist wounded himself

(JNS) - A medical opinion submitted in the case of the Hamas terrorist who was allegedly raped at the Israel Defense Forces' Sde Teiman detention center suggests that the IDF reservists suspected of attacking him could be innocent, Israel's Channel 14 News broadcaster reported on Thursday.

The expert opinion-written by Professor Alon Pikarsky, director of general surgery at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Medical Center and a board-certified general surgeon specializing in colorectal surgery-was revealed during a closed hearing at the Beit Lid military court, the report said.

"Since there was damage to the rectum, there is no doubt that the insertion of a foreign body caused the wound. However, there is much doubt regarding the way and mechanism of the insertion," wrote the physician, who has operated on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Pikarsky, the lack of damage to the terrorist's anus suggests that he caused the wound himself, "as it is precisely the self-insertion of a foreign body, which can also cause a rupture in the rectum, that will not cause damage to the anus itself, since the inserter (the patient) will ensure a gentle and non-traumatic insertion of the foreign body.

"The medical records made available to me (hospitalization documents, as well as a computer screenshot dated July 8, 2024, by Dr. Muhammad Melhem), which do not indicate any wounding to the anus, support self-insertion and not insertion by any external party," he concluded.

On July 29, IDF Military Police officers arrested nine reservists guarding the Sde Teiman base in the Negev as part of a probe into an incident of alleged sexual abuse of a detained Hamas terrorist captured in Gaza.

"Following a suspicion of serious abuse of a detainee who was held in the prison facility, an investigation by the Military Police was opened by order of the Military Advocate General's Office," the IDF said.

One terrorist was evacuated by the Military Police to Beersheva's Soroka Medical Center with bruises on his buttocks, according to Israel Hayom.

Following the arrests, Israeli right-wing activists clashed with authorities at Sde Teiman and at the Beit Lid Military Police base in central Israel.

"The nine who were arrested were guarding the Hamas terrorists since October 7, about 300 days already. The Military Police attribute an incident to them of abusing a terrorist about a month ago," the Honenu legal aid group, which represents some of the suspects, told JNS last month.

"After our attorneys spoke to the clients, the soldiers-we can say, first of all, that there is nothing to the accusations. It's all lies and falsehoods," a spokesperson for Honenu said.

The defense asserts that the terrorist attacked security personnel when they arrested him following intelligence that he had planned a riot. During the arrest, he attacked and bit one of the soldiers. In the course of restraining him, he received the wounds that prosecutors attribute to sexual assault.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the reports out of Sde Teiman "are deeply, deeply concerning."

"Reit-reiterate that we support an IDF investigation into allegations of serious abuse of Palestinian detainees by IDF soldiers," Jean-Pierre told journalists. "It is essential that the rule of law and due process prevail. That is what we're going to see, and obviously, we're going to continue to have those conversations."