Girl, 16, is ‘gang-raped by 30 men’ in an Israel hotel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the attack a ‘crime against humanity’

Israeli police are investigating claims that a 16-year-old girl was gang-raped by 30 men in the coastal resort of Eilat.  

Two men have been arrested so far over allegations that the girl was repeatedly assaulted while she was drunk in a hotel room, before she went to police last Friday. 

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the alleged gang-rape was ‘not just a crime against the girl… it a crime against humanity’. 

One suspect has told investigators that a large group of men had sex with the girl but claimed that it was consensual, according to the Times of Israel. 

Israeli police are investigating claims that a 16-year-old girl was gang-raped by 30 men in the coastal resort of Eilat (file photo)

Some of the men are alleged to have filmed the attacks on their phones, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz. 

The first suspect was reportedly arrested after messages emerged showing that there was video footage of the alleged rape.  

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Police say the girl was not a guest at the hotel, but had gone to the bathroom after drinking there with some of her friends. 

She was then allegedly taken to one of the hotel rooms and raped by the group of men, who did not all know each other.  

One suspect claims that the men ‘lined up’ outside the girl’s room before going inside to assault her. 

Another of the alleged attackers was said to have entered the girl’s room under the pretence of being a medic who wanted to help. 

The alleged attacker ‘took advantage of her and slept with her when she was out of control’, the friend told Israeli television. 

Authorities are now awaiting the results of a medical examination, while one man has been ordered to stay in custody by a magistrates court. 

Local media said the suspect was a 27-year-old from northern Israel, while a second suspect, also 27, was arrested this morning.  

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) said the alleged gang-rape was ‘not just a crime against the girl… it a crime against humanity’.

Commenting on the allegations, prime minister Netanyahu said on Twitter that ‘this is shocking, there is no other word’. 

‘This is not just a crime against the girl, it is a crime against humanity itself that deserves all condemnation and that those responsible for it should be brought to justice,’ Netanyahu said. 

Netanyahu’s coalition partner and defence minister Benny Gantz asked: ‘What is a man who is standing on a crowded line with dozens of others, on the way to a room where a young, disoriented girl is lying down, trying to prove?

‘The police investigation is still underway, but it’s important that I convey a message to those who participated or bore witness to this case or others: The only thing you’ve proven is what depravity of your soul and morality you are capable of.’  

Last year a group of Israeli men were at the centre of a rape allegation involving a British teenager in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. 

The 19-year-old Briton’s allegation led to 12 Israeli men being detained and subsequently released. 

She later withdrew her allegation, but claims she was coerced by Cypriot police into dropping the case. 

The woman was given a suspended sentence in January this year after being found guilty of public mischief. 

The UK government said it had ‘numerous concerns about the judicial process in this case and the woman’s right to a fair trial’.