An Israeli military court indicted five members of the Israel Defense Forces hailing from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, a unit intended to foster participation of Orthodox Jewish men in the
IDF, for assaulting handcuffed Palestinian prisoners, the Jerusalem Post reports.
The IDF troops captured two Palestinians — a father and his son — and detained them on the grounds they helped Asam Barghouti, a man wanted for carrying out two shooting attacks outside Jerusalem, flee the police.
The indictment alleges that IDF personnel snapped photos and recorded videos as they beat the daylights out of the handcuffed and blindfolded prisoners.
The indictment further alleges that the son's blindfold was removed as IDF troops beat his father.
The two Palestinians have yet to be charged after they were detained on suspicion of
aiding Barghouti, the Jerusalem Post notes. Both were hospitalized for injuries they sustained during the beating.
The IDF soldiers' names have not been disclosed. Two of the soldiers were also indicted on charges of obstructing justice after authorities found WhatsApp message logs showing how the pair tried to falsely represent what had happened.
MK Bezalel Smotrich told the outlet that IDF personnel situations should be handled with internal disciplinary measures instead of a court martial, saying that the soldiers arrested terrorists and had just seen a fellow member of their unit murdered.
The soldiers were arrested January 10, Sputnik reported.