RAMALLAH, West Bank / PNN /

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said Thursday that Israeli prosecutors have dropped charges against soldiers accused of raping a detainee from Gaza at the Sde Teiman military detention camp, a move the group said reflects a broader pattern of impunity for abuses against Palestinian prisoners.

Abdullah al-Zighari, head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, said the decision was “expected,” citing what he described as long-standing complicity within Israel’s judicial system regarding alleged abuses against Palestinian detainees.

“This dangerous decision reflects the nature of the occupation,” al-Zighari said, arguing that such crimes occur with the backing of senior political, military and legal authorities. He added that the case should not be viewed as an isolated incident but as part of a wider institutional pattern, particularly after a video allegedly showing abuse at the Sde Teiman camp circulated publicly.

The group said the decision could encourage further mistreatment of Palestinian and Arab detainees, including sexual abuse, which it described as among the most serious violations documented in Israeli detention facilities since the start of the war in Gaza.

According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, human rights organizations have recorded allegations of rape, forced strip searches, harassment and beatings targeting sensitive parts of detainees’ bodies. The group said such practices form part of what it called systematic policies of humiliation and torture.

Al-Zighari said Israel’s actions during the war in Gaza and in detention facilities undermine its claims of adhering to legal and human rights standards. He also criticized what he described as a longstanding lack of accountability for violations against Palestinian detainees.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society warned that the failure to hold perpetrators accountable could have wider implications beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The continuation of this reality threatens not only Palestinians but the global system of justice and human rights,” the group said, adding that appeals and documentation submitted by human rights organizations to international bodies have so far failed to produce meaningful protections for prisoners held in Israeli custody.