Footage reveals convicted IDF soldiers laughing and beating Palestinian detainees

Incriminating video footage of a group of Israeli soldiers beating two Palestinian prisoners earlier this year was published on Tuesday, only days after the recruits were convicted of abuse.

The clip, which was recorded by one of the convicted soldiers, shows the men from the ultra-Orthodox battalion repeatedly hitting the Palestinian detainees in the back of a vehicle whilst laughing and shouting in Hebrew “say hello now” -- seemingly urging the beaten man to address the camera.

“We’re having a party,” one soldier in the video jeers, whilst the handcuffed and blindfolded prisoners can be heard calling out in pain.

Following requests from a number of Israeli news outlets, the Israel Defense Forces’ Central District Court in Jaffa lifted the gag order for the video, but only after the voices of soldiers had been distorted and their faces blurred in an effort to protect their identity.

The clip provides the critical piece of evidence in the trial against the five men from the IDF’s Kfir brigades -- or the ‘Netzah Yehuda’ unit -- who were formally charged on Thursday with abuse.

After okaying the terms of a plea deal -- giving them a significantly more lenient sentence -- three of the soldiers received six months in prison. One received five and a half months behind bars, whilst the other will serve a two month sentence. All five will face a demotion in military rank and a probation period.

As per the plea deal, the soldiers were found guilty of abuse but avoided the more serious charge of assault.

The men stand accused of “striking the Palestinians with slaps, punches and bludgeons while they were handcuffed and blindfolded, causing them serious injuries,” the IDF said in a statement last month.

The beating of the detained father and son in January is believed to have been motivated by revenge for the death of two fellow battalion members who were killed in a shooting incident at the intersection near the West Bank outpost of Givat Assaf in December.

According to the indictment against the soldiers, they removed the son's blindfold "so that he would see how they were hitting" his father.

The soldier's’ commanding officer, a lieutenant, was also charged for failing to take measures to prevent the attack despite being aware it was taking place.

The son was said to have suffered a series of wounds to his head " significant swelling" to his face. Whilst the father had multiple broken ribs, a "severely" broken nose, as well as internal bleeding in his stomach. Meanwhile, the father's injuries were so severe that he was unable to be questioned and required medical care for 3 days.

Several right-wing politicians slammed the military for prosecuting the soldiers,while Bezalel Smotrich, the newly elected leader of the far-right Jewish Home party said his party would give immunity to soldiers from criminal proceedings.

Soldiers in the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion have been at the center of several controversies in recent years involving right-wing extremism and Palestinians.