The video, supplied by the rights group Yesh Din, was filmed throughout a confrontation between masked Jewish settlers and Palestinians within the northern West Financial institution, an space which has seen unrest in latest months over Israeli navy raids and Palestinian taking pictures assaults.
Critics have lengthy accused the Israeli navy and the protection institution of getting uncomfortably tight ties with settlers. The Protection Ministry pays the salaries of settlement guards and lots of prime commanders stay within the settlements. Troopers are sometimes seen standing by as settlers assault Palestinians or their property. This week, settlers rampaging within the northern West Financial institution pepper sprayed a number of troopers attempting to disperse them.
“We’re used to seeing troopers doing nothing to cease settlers however in recent times we’re seeing lively cooperation between them,” stated Ziv Stahl, Yesh Din’s government director.
Within the video, a settler is seen strolling down a hilltop and handing what Yesh Din says are two fuel grenades to the safety guard. The guard is then seen handing again one of many grenades earlier than pointing within the path of what seems to be the Palestinians, who’re offscreen, and the settler lobs one grenade that means. The guard once more factors and the settler throws the second grenade.
Safety guards man settlements all through the West Financial institution and are supposed to act as a standby till troopers or police arrive.
Different movies supplied by Yesh Din from the conflict additionally present troopers standing by as masked settlers throw stones. The movies don’t present the Palestinians.
The Israeli navy stated the incident and the guard’s conduct had been underneath overview.
The navy stated each Palestinians and settlers had been throwing stones. It stated the particular person in uniform seen within the video just isn’t a soldier however reasonably a safety guard whose wage is paid by the Israeli Protection Ministry and who’s nominated by a regional navy officer.
The navy stated settlement guards are sometimes not in uniform however the guard within the video was carrying what seems to be Israeli navy apparel. He has a helmet and is armed, and in addition wears a black face cowl that obscures half his face.
Israel captured the West Financial institution within the 1967 Mideast struggle, together with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories the Palestinians need for his or her future state. Greater than 500,000 individuals now stay in some 130 settlements throughout the West Financial institution.
Related Press author Fares Akram contributed to this report from Hamilton, Ontario.
This story has been corrected to point out that the Israeli group says the grenades within the video are fuel grenades, not stun grenades.
