Jerusalem: The Israeli military expressed regret after a video was widely circulated on social media showing Israeli forces strapping a wounded Palestinian man to the hood of a jeep during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday. The Palestinian man was identified as Mujahed Azmi, who was strapped on the jeep that passed through two ambulances.
The Israeli military in a statement said Israeli forces were fired at and exchanged fire, wounding a suspect and apprehending him. The army said soldiers violated military protocol by strapping the suspect to the hood of the vehicle as it passed through a narrow valley.
The military said the "conduct of the forces in the video of the incident does not conform to the values" of the Israeli military and that the incident will be investigated and dealt with. The man was being transported to a Red Crescent ambulance situated nearby, it added.
The victim's family also said there was an arrest raid, and Azmi was injured during the raid. When the family asked for an ambulance, the army took the Palestinian man, strapped him on the hood and drove off. The date was confirmed by an eyewitness interviewed by Reuters.
Violence in West Bank
Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, has escalated since then with frequent army raids on militant groups, rampages by Jewish settlers in Palestinian villages, and deadly Palestinian street attacks. On Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a 12-year-old Palestinian boy died from his wounds after being shot by Israeli forces in Ramallah last week.
At least 549 Palestinians in the territory have been killed by Israeli fire since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which tracks the killings. Over the same period, Palestinians in the West Bank have killed at least nine Israelis, including five soldiers, according to UN data.
At least 39 people were killed by Israeli strikes across northern Gaza on Saturday, as rescue workers scrambled to find survivors beneath the rubble, according to Palestinian and hospital officials. The Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7. when Hamas militants who stormed southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage. Israel has responded by bombarding and invading the enclave, killing more than 37, 400 Palestinians there, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
(with inputs from agencies)
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