Protesters demonstrate Thursday after alleged gang rape in Eilat
Protesters demonstrate Thursday after alleged gang rape in EilatFlash90

The alleged gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl by some 30 men in the Red Sea resort of Eilat has sparked outrage in Israel.

Reports that the alleged perpetrators, said to be in their 20s, queued outside the minor's hotel bedroom awaiting their turn to take advantage of her inebriated state prompted protests in several Israeli cities on Thursday.

The girl had reported the alleged crime to police in Eilat last week but the case had previously gone largely unnoticed.

"Two suspects have been arrested in connection with an incident that took place in Eilat involving a 16-year-old female teenager," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

Protests in the big cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Thursday evening prompted Israel's leaders to speak out against sexual violence.

"It's shocking -- there's no other word for it," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for all the suspects to be put on trial.

"It's not only a crime against a young girl, it's a crime against humanity itself that deserves condemnation from all of us."

President Reuven Rivlin wrote an open letter to Israel's youth.

"Sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation, sexual violence - these are some of the stains that cannot be deleted," he said.

"These are cases of unforgivable loss of boundaries, and they destroy us as a society. As humans."