Israel investigating after photo of stripped and bound detainee is shared

TEL AVIV - The photo shows a blindfolded man lying prone on a foldout cot, naked except for underpants. His hands have been zip-tied behind his back, with a cord lashed around his body and what appears to be a broomstick, slipped through a length of square metal pipe, tying him down to the cot.

In Hebrew, a caption says, “Good morning.”

When the photo was posted on social media recently, it showed at least one war crime being committed, and perhaps two, human rights groups said.

Who the man is and where he was from remain unclear. The image circulated widely online after it was reposted by a Palestinian activist, who wrote that an Israeli soldier first posted it and had since deleted his account.

The Israeli military said it had confirmed the authenticity of the photo. “Following a thorough review, the incident in question has been identified,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

The statement said that the incident did not align with the military’s “values and regulations”, adding that “an inquiry is underway, and those involved will be dealt with in accordance with the findings”.

The military did not say where the prisoner was from or answer questions about how many soldiers were believed to be involved, what were their ranks or unit, what consequences they might face, or where the photograph was taken. Nor did it say what became of the prisoner, the events that led to his mistreatment, or exactly what violations it was investigating.

The photograph was highlighted on the social platform X on June 30 by a Palestinian activist who goes by Tamer. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip in 2023, often without being charged, and has denied the International Red Cross access to meet with them.

Many have described being stripped or otherwise humiliated, beaten, deprived of adequate food and medical care, and prevented for weeks from contacting lawyers or relatives. The New York Times extensively documented abuse of prisoners at Sde Teiman, an army base in southern Israel where most Gaza residents captured during the war were brought for initial interrogation.

Sari Bashi, the executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, said publishing the photo itself constituted a war crime, because of the prohibition under international humanitarian law against depicting prisoners or detainees in humiliating states.

“There’s the posting, and then there’s what it appears to show,” she said. That, too, may be a war crime, she said: “The way in which he was confined raises strong concerns that the method of confinement was a form of punishment that could amount to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, or even torture,” depending on how much the man suffered.

Israeli soldiers have frequently posted apparently incriminating photographs and videos of themselves during the war. Rights groups say it reflects a cultural shift in the military that is at odds with its insistence that such incidents break with its rules and norms.

“The soldiers are taking their cue from the highest levels,” Bashi said. She recalled that the defense minister, Israel Katz, had met with and was said to have apologized to five reservists after charges were dropped against them in a case involving the abuse of a Palestinian prisoner who suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung and a torn rectum.

“If I were a foot soldier,” Bashi said, “I would think this is all OK and even desirable.”

Oneg Ben Dror, a project coordinator for Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, who also said the published photo was evidence of two war crimes, said the mistreatment depicted was exceptional only because it had been so clearly documented. Thousands of Palestinians have testified to having been tortured in Israeli prisons and military camps, she said.

“It’s not a unique case,” she added. “This time, the soldiers took a photo of it.”

Amani Sarahneh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners Association, said the photo showed how Israeli soldiers acted with impunity and underscored the “violence and brutality” that detainees have endured.

She also argued that the original dissemination of such a photo was “an effort to shape public consciousness through intimidation and psychological deterrence by using images such as these and the impact they have on Palestinians more broadly.”

In a statement on July 8, the Israeli military said: “The IDF has acted and continues to act to identify unusual cases that deviate from what is expected of IDF soldiers. Those cases will be arbitrated, and significant command measures will be taken against the soldiers involved.” NYTIMES

• This article originally appeared in The New York Times.