Hind Rajab Foundation asks the ICC to investigate Israeli doctors over Sde Teiman

The Hind Rajab Foundation, a group that files legal complaints against members of Israel's security establishment in courts around the world, has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to investigate senior Israeli doctors over the treatment of Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman detention facility. Ynet reported that the complaint names the Israeli Medical Association along with a number of senior physicians, and alleges they were involved in the abuse of Palestinian prisoners held at the site.

Haaretz reported that the foundation submitted its petition on Wednesday and that it seeks an investigation into Israeli government officials as well as doctors, concerning the mistreatment of detainees held at Sde Teiman since 2023. The Jerusalem Post described the allegations as concerning torture at the facility.

A new kind of target

The Hind Rajab Foundation has become known in Israel for pursuing individual soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) through legal complaints filed abroad. Ynet characterised the filing as a shift in focus, describing senior Israeli doctors as the group's new target after its earlier efforts directed at soldiers. According to Ynet, the foundation operates internationally and brings complaints against people connected to Israel's defence and security system.

The reports differ on who exactly is named. Ynet refers to the Israeli Medical Association and a list of senior doctors. Haaretz refers to government officials and doctors. The Jerusalem Post headline refers to Israeli doctors. None of the three reports, as available to us, lists individual names.

What Sde Teiman is

Sde Teiman is a military base in southern Israel near the city of Beersheba, according to a photo caption published by The Jerusalem Post. The base has been used as a detention facility for Palestinians, and Haaretz dates the detentions at issue to 2023 onward. The site has drawn sustained attention over allegations about how detainees there were treated, which is the subject of the foundation's complaint.

The reports use different language for those allegations. Ynet and Haaretz speak of abuse and mistreatment of detainees, while The Jerusalem Post uses the word torture, describing it as alleged.

The Israeli Medical Association

The Israeli Medical Association, known in Hebrew as HaHistadrut HaRefuit, is the main professional body representing physicians in Israel. Its inclusion, as reported by Ynet, means the complaint reaches beyond individual practitioners to the country's organised medical profession.

How the ICC works

The International Criminal Court is a permanent international tribunal based in The Hague that can prosecute individuals, rather than states, for crimes such as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Organisations and individuals may send information to the court's prosecutor and ask for an investigation, but such a submission does not by itself open a case. The prosecutor decides whether to act on it. Israel is not a member state of the court and has rejected its jurisdiction.

What the reports do not say

The reports available to us do not identify any of the doctors or officials named in the complaint, and they do not describe the specific acts each is alleged to have committed. They do not say whether the ICC prosecutor's office has acknowledged receiving the submission or whether it intends to examine it.

None of the reports includes a response from the Israeli Medical Association, from any of the doctors concerned, from the IDF or from the Israeli government. They also do not say what evidence the foundation submitted in support of its claims. There is a further discrepancy between the accounts: Ynet does not mention government officials, while Haaretz does, and it is not clear from the material whether these describe the same filing in different terms or differ on its scope.