In a large room, divided by fencing and razor wire, a group of Palestinian detainees lie face down on the ground.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of an alleged violent assault.
Masked, armed Israeli soldiers walk between the rows of blindfolded and handcuffed bodies, before picking up one man and leading him to the corner of the vast space.
They are away from direct view of one security camera and use their riot shields to block what could be seen by another.
What happened next was horrific. The Palestinian man was allegedly abused by the reservists, to the point where he was left bleeding from his anus and requiring major surgery.
The shocking incident, which occurred at the notorious Sde Teiman military facility in July 2024, made headlines around the world after leaked security camera vision was broadcast on Israeli TV.
Five soldiers are facing charges of aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm, and the case is still before the military court.
Yet rather than condemning the crime of the alleged abuse, some right-wing Israeli politicians instead condemned the crime of leaking it, while others stayed silent.
Now police have arrested a former senior lawyer for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who admitted to being responsible for the leak.
Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, formerly the IDF's top legal advisor, is now in police custody on suspicion of fraud, abuse of office and disclosing official information.
Meanwhile, the five soldiers charged with the violent abuse remain free in the community while awaiting their trial.
So why did she leak it, why was she arrested, and what does it say about attitudes in Israel about the alleged abuse of Palestinians?
Horrific allegations and a prison riot
When news of the alleged assault was first made public last year, it reverberated around the world.
Not only was it horrific, but it mirrored many similar stories of abuse inside Israeli prisons that have been documented in recent years, both by the media — including the ABC — and organisations such as the United Nations.
Nine soldiers were arrested on suspicion of "severe abuse of a detainee" in July 2024, by order of Tomer-Yerushalmi.
That prompted around 200 protesters to rally outside Sde Teiman, in the Negev desert east of Gaza. Dozens protesting the arrests, including a number of elected politicians, stormed the base. Some of the Knesset members are trying to avoid cooperating with police investigations into the protest.
One far-right politician, Limor Son Har-Melech of the Jewish nationalist party Otzma Yehudit, labelled Tomer-Yerushalmi's decision as "criminal."
"The people of Israel are fighting outside enemies while enemies are trying to eat away at it from within," she said.
The leader of Otzma Yehudit is Israel's controversial national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has been sanctioned by a number of countries, including Australia, for inciting violence against Palestinians.
He labelled the arrest of the reservists as "nothing less than shameful".
Days later, a doctor at the military detention facility, in the Negev desert east of Gaza, told Israeli newspaper Haaretz he had seen the Palestinian man after he was allegedly assaulted and "couldn't believe an Israeli prison guard could do such a thing."
It was against this backdrop that the shocking video, showing the moment of the alleged assault, was aired on Channel 12.
Video leaked to combat right-wing 'propaganda'
The case dropped out the international headlines for several months, but returned to the spotlight last week when the IDF announced it had commenced a criminal investigation into the source of the leaked video.
That was the moment things started to develop incredibly quickly.
By Thursday, Tomer-Yerushalmi had quit the role of Military Advocate General after admitting she authorised the leaking of the video back in August 2024.
She argued she did it to try and "counter the false propaganda" being spread about military law enforcement authorities, including by right-wing politicians trying to discredit investigations into allegations of serious misconduct.
Tomer-Yerushalmi said there was a "duty to investigate when there is reasonable suspicion of violence against a detainee," in her resignation letter.
"Unfortunately, this basic understanding — that there are actions which must never be taken even against the vilest of detainees — no longer convinces everyone."
Tomer-Yerushalmi said her officers were subjected to personal attacks and harsh insults including "severe allegations suggesting that we favour terrorists over our own troops", "all because we have stood guard over the rule of law in the IDF".
By Sunday, the case took another turn.
The embattled military lawyer was reported missing, with Israeli media reporting she had left a letter to her family and abandoned her car at a beach north of Tel Aviv.
Police launched a full scale search and rescue operation, even drafting in support from the military, before she was located at another beach further up the coast without her phone. Authorities believe she may have thrown it into the sea.
On Sunday night, local time, Israeli police announced they had arrested Tomer-Yerushalmi, reportedly placed in solitary confinement. The IDF's former chief prosecutor was also detained.
The magistrate's court has extended their detention until Wednesday, as police continue their investigation.
Israeli politicians label leak 'treason'
Eli Cohen, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet and his Likud party, took aim at Tomer-Yerushalmi on Israel's right-wing Channel 14 on Saturday night.
He said she was "supposed to be the bullet proof vest, the protector, of the IDF soldiers."
"Instead of that, she stabbed them in the back," Cohen argued.
"In this case we are talking about treason.
"To go against IDF soldiers, reserve duty soldiers, that left their homes in order to fight for all of us — to act against them, there is no other word to describe it."
Threats had been made against Tomer-Yerushalmi, of such concern that guards had been placed outside her house.
When addressing the resignation, before news of her disappearance broke, the prime minister labelled the leak of the video as "the most severe propaganda attack" in Israel's history, causing "enormous reputational damage to Israel, to the IDF and to our soldiers".
It was the first time he had commented on the case since July 2024, when he called for a "calming of passions" after right-wing protesters stormed the prison.
Netanyahu's critics would argue his focus on reputational damage, rather than the substance of the allegations, is an example of seriously skewed priorities.
The reservists charged over the incident are trying to take advantage of Tomer-Yerushalmi's admission and have demanded their case be dropped, arguing they were the subjects of a "show trial" and the case had been tainted.
"Today we unfortunately know that we were witness to a faulty, biased and completely cooked-up legal process," lawyer Adi Keider said in a press conference, standing alongside his clients wearing black masks to hide their identities.
The five reservists are awaiting trial, but for the moment they are allowed to remain free in the community. Their lawyers have reportedly been told the Palestinian man they are accused of assaulting has been released back into the Gaza strip.
Concerns about justice in Israel
While Tomer-Yerushalmi may have broken the law in leaking the video, the broader response to what's been dubbed the "Sde Teiman affair" in the local media will only add fuel to criticism Israel cannot be trusted to investigate itself.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the former Military Advocate General expressed deep concerns about Israel's standing in the international community, with organisations such as the International Criminal Court investigating its conduct in Gaza and against the Palestinian population more broadly.
"Don't they understand we had no choice [in leaking the video]? That the only way to address the wave of international legal proceedings is by proving we can investigate ourselves?" she reportedly said in a meeting six weeks ago.
The ICC has already issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Even with those concerns, media outlet Haaretz reported Tomer-Yerushalmi had avoided launching probes into some war crimes allegations fearing backlash from right-wing factions in Israel.
The country's President Isaac Herzog took to social media on Sunday to issue a warning to those demanding Tomer-Yerushalmi's scalp.
"Words that spiral out of control ignite a dangerous fire and endanger lives," he posted in Hebrew on X.
"It is now essential to lower the flames, to show humanity and sensitivity.
"As a society and as a nation, we will still need to investigate and learn a great deal about the last few days and this earth-shaking affair, with all the implications that stem from it."
And that is where this complicated and deeply troubling saga takes Israel — to a position where it has to consider how it handles serious allegations.
"The video leak and the allegations of cover-up and deception cannot serve as an excuse for failing to investigate or prosecute soldiers for violations of IDF orders and the law of armed conflict," staff at the Israel Democracy Institute said.
"Nor can they justify impunity for those responsible for the storming of IDF bases."
Whether such investigations will amount to much, with such fiery debate raging in Israel, is yet to be seen.
