(AP) Tensions remained high in Israel as soldiers were due to appear before a military court Tuesday over what a defense lawyer said were allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian at a facility where Israel has held prisoners from Gaza during the war.
Hard-line nationalists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and others have protested. An investigation by The Associated Press has exposed abysmal conditions at Sde Teiman, where most of the thousands detained in Gaza have been held. Israeli authorities have generally denied abuses in detention facilities for Palestinians.
More bodies and further destruction were found after Israeli forces withdrew from parts of Khan Younis in Gaza. The territory’s Health Ministry says over 39,300 people have been killed since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked the war. Some diseases run rampant in appalling conditions in overcrowded tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The sanitation system has collapsed, leaving pools of sewage.
Netanyahu has vowed heavy retaliation against Hezbollah after a rocket hit a soccer field over the weekend in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, killing 12 children in Majdal Shams. Israel accused Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Hezbollah quickly issued a rare denial of responsibility. The two continue to exchange fire almost daily since the latest Israel-Hamas war began.