THE Israeli military said today that it was holding nine soldiers for questioning following allegations of “substantial abuse” of a detainee at a shadowy facility where Palestinian prisoners have been held since the start of the Gaza invasion.

The military did not disclose any details of the alleged abuse, saying only that its top legal official had launched a probe, but an investigation by the Associated Press news agency and reports by human rights groups have exposed abysmal conditions at the Sde Teiman facility, the country’s largest detention centre.

Earlier this year, UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, reported allegations by detainees that they had suffered ill-treatment and abuse, without specifying where.

The military has generally denied abuse of detainees, but following those accusations, Israel has said it is transferring the bulk of Palestinian inmates out of Sde Teiman and upgrading the facility.

Israeli media reported that military police officers who arrived at Sde Teiman in southern Israel to detain the soldiers were met with protests and scuffles.

The detentions prompted an outcry among members of Israel’s far-right government, who condemned the investigation into the soldiers’ conduct as an affront to their service.