A video showing Israeli troops driving with a wounded Palestinian man strapped to the hood of a military jeep after a raid in the occupied West Bank has sparked outrage, prompting accusations of egregious mistreatment and human shielding, amid the Israeli military’s intensifying operations in the territory.
The Israel Defense Forces said the incident violated military protocol and is under investigation.
In the video, a man, apparently bloodied, can be seen lying on the hood of one of two military vehicles riding in a convoy past two ambulances on a narrow road in what appears to be a residential area. The man appears to be injured, but the extent of his injuries is hard to ascertain based on the video. However, he can be seen making some small movements as he lies on the hood of the military vehicle driving down the road.
The video, verified by NBC News, has been widely shared online, including by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories, who accused the IDF of using the man as a human shield.
“#HumanShielding in action,” wrote Albanese, sharing the video in a post on X. “It is flabbergasting how a state born 76 years ago has managed to turn international law literally on its head,” Albanese added.
The Israeli army told NBC News in response to the video Saturday that the man was one of the “suspects” injured and apprehended during a morning raid in the area of Wadi Burqin, west of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the IDF statement, militants opened fire on Israeli soldiers, who returned fire.
The IDF, however, said that the incident captured in the video was “in violation of orders and standard operating procedures.”
“The conduct of the forces in the video of the incident does not conform to the values of the IDF. The incident will be investigated and dealt with accordingly. The suspect was transferred to the Red Crescent to receive medical treatment,” the Israeli army’s statement said.
NBC News could not independently verify who the man in the video is or the exact circumstances of the incident. Additional videos of the same incident have been posted since the first one emerged.
Sharing the video in a post on X on Saturday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said the Israeli forces prevented their crews from providing first aid to an injured person in the Jabarat area of Jenin. “They then placed the injured person on the front of a military jeep and detained him before later allowing our crews to transfer him to the hospital,” the post said.
NBC News reached out to the PRCS for further comment.
It’s the latest in a series of incidents that the Israeli military has characterized as inappropriate and “contrary to the values of the IDF.”
In November, videos emerged appearing to show Israeli troops abusing bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees. The IDF called the conduct of its forces “deplorable” and noncompliant with the army’s orders in that case.
Other examples in which Israel had admitted wrongdoing by its forces include the killings of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen in the Gaza Strip in April, an incident which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as his country’s forces unintentionally hitting “innocent people.” The IDF dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their roles in the incident, ruling it a “grave incident.” And in December, three Israeli hostages waving a white flag were killed by Israeli troops in Gaza in a mistake that brought into question how Israeli forces treated unarmed noncombatants on the battlefield.
The IDF appears to issue a similar response every time it faces a substantiated allegation of questionable behavior by Israeli service members, saying it “acts to address exceptional incidents that deviate from the orders and expected values of IDF soldiers” and “handles them with command and disciplinary measures.”
The IDF often does not comment on any disciplinary measures ultimately taken, and investigations into such behavior are often slow and in most cases end without charges being filed. Human rights activists have long complained that Israeli forces operate in a climate of impunity, an allegation the military rejects.
Videos of IDF soldiers have appeared regularly in the course of the war, drawing outrage. These have included images of soldiers setting fire to items in a candy factory, and breaking children’s toys and gifts in a store in the Gaza Strip.
In response to a number of social media videos purporting to show examples of Israeli soldiers riding bicycles in the Gaza rubble, going through lingerie in a Gaza home, using a prayer rug in a bathroom of a home in Gaza or stepping on a Palestinian flag in the enclave, the IDF previously has told NBC News that it “has taken action and will continue acting to identify misconduct and behavior that does not align with the expected morals and values of IDF soldiers.”
As the war in Gaza drags on after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, violence has flared in the occupied West Bank, with frequent military raids and altercations. At least 553 people including 135 children have been killed in the territory since the Oct. 7 attacks, and more than 9,300 have been detained, according to Palestinian authorities.
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