Assault charges against Israeli soldiers dropped in controversial end to a yearlong scandal

Tel Aviv (CNN) — Israel’s top military lawyer has dropped charges against five reservist soldiers accused of assaulting a Palestinian detainee at the notorious Sde Teiman military prison – in a move welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and condemned by human rights groups.

The charges of aggravated abuse and serious assault stemmed from an investigation into the incident in July 2024, which took a dramatic turn after the leak of a video a month later, which appeared to show the Gazan detainee being attacked as some two dozen other detainees lay face-down nearby.

According to a February 2025 indictment, the five soldiers beat the man, dragging him across the floor, stepping on his body, breaking his ribs and puncturing a lung. One of the charges also describes the detainee suffering an internal rectal tear after being stabbed in the buttocks. All five of the soldiers denied any wrongdoing.

Explaining why the charges were being dropped, the army’s top lawyer – known as the Military Advocate General (MAG) – said the security camera footage captured on the leaked video did not “clearly and irrefutably show acts of severe violence at the level required for a criminal conviction.”

The MAG also cited multiple “exceptional circumstances” in the case including misconduct by senior officials working in the Military Advocate General’s Office at the time of the investigation, as well as the fact that the detainee had been released to Gaza as part of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, and was therefore in no position to be cross-examined in any trial.

Netanyahu and members of his right-wing government hailed the decision. Netanyahu, who once decried the affair as “the worst PR disaster in Israel’s history,” said in a statement, “It is unacceptable that it took so long to close a case pursued criminally against IDF soldiers who are confronting the worst of our enemies. Israel must pursue its enemies – not its heroic fighters.”

Human rights groups, by contrast, slammed the announcement.

The Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy called it a “clear attempt to obscure the truth” – which “once again confirms that the Israeli military judicial system serves merely as a tool to protect perpetrators of crimes and grant them effective immunity from accountability and punishment.

The Israeli human rights group “Yesh Din” said the cancellation of the indictment “proves that Israel is unwilling and unable to prosecute soldiers suspected of serious violations of international humanitarian law.” According to the group, there are only two indictments regarding crimes committed by Israeli solider during the war in Gaza.

Leaked video of the alleged abuse was first aired by Israel’s Channel 12 in August 2024, but it wasn’t the only report to raise concerns about conditions at the base. In May 2024, CNN spoke to three whistleblowers who detailed allegations of abuse at Sde Teiman. Israel soon after said it would begin phasing out the facility.

Thursday’s decision to dismiss the Sde Teiman indictment marks a major turning point in one of the most contentious and divisive scandals Israel has faced during the Gaza War.

The investigation and subsequent arrest provoked intense political backlash: right-wing members of Netanyahu’s coalition joined protests and riots outside the facility and military court. Israel’s defense minister and other senior political officials decried the accusations against the soldiers as “a blood libel.”

Israel’s former MAG, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, became the lightning rod for right-wing outrage, eventually leading to her resignation in October 2025, following an internal probe into the video leak. Tomer-Yerushalemi acknowledged she approved the release, stating in her resignation letter that she sought to “counter false propaganda against law enforcement authorities in the Army” amid what she called an “incitement campaign” against her.

Tomer-Yerushalmi was arrested and investigated on suspicion of multiple offenses: fraud and breach of trust, abuse of official power, obstruction of justice, and disclosure of information by a public official. More than four months later, she has yet to be formally charged.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, a vocal proponent of closing the Sde Teiman case, fast tracked Maj. Gen. Itay Ofir, a former Defense ministry legal advisor, to replace her. The dismissal marks Ofir’s most significant decision since taking office.

CNN’s Dana Karni and Andrew Carey contributed to this report.