Human rights organizations have long accused the Israeli military of failing to investigate and punish crimes committed against Palestinians. However, a recent case saw three Israeli soldiers sentenced to prison for abusing a Palestinian man and obstructing an investigation into the incident. The Israeli army confirmed that the soldiers were found guilty of abuse and exceeding their authority, endangering the man’s life or health. The soldiers allegedly used violence against the victim and left him in a remote location before hiding the details of the incident from their commanders. Two of the soldiers received 60-day prison sentences, while the third was sentenced to 40 days. All were demoted and given additional suspended sentences for obstructing court proceedings. A fourth soldier is still awaiting trial on charges of assault, abuse, threats, and other offenses.
According to data obtained by human rights group Yesh Din, the Israeli military received 1,260 complaints of alleged offenses by soldiers against Palestinians between 2017 and 2021, including 409 cases involving killings. However, only 21.4% of these complaints resulted in criminal investigations, with just 11 cases leading to indictments over the five-year period. The Israeli military disputed these figures, claiming that more charges had been filed against soldiers than reported by Yesh Din.