West Bank settlers shown firing on Palestinians as Israeli troops stand by

THE ISRAELI human rights group B’tselem has released video clips shot by Palestinian villagers showing Israeli troops standing by as settlers open fire at close range on a group of stone throwers.

The Israel Defence Forces and the police have opened investigations into the incident which resulted in a 24-year-old Palestinian being hospitalised in stable condition after being hit in the head by settler fire.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon on a hilltop dividing the settlement of Yitzhar from the Palestinian village of Asira al-Qibliya, south of Nablus, the West Bank’s largest city.

The video clips, posted on YouTube, show a crowd of about 30 Palestinians throwing stones at the settlers, who are wearing white shirts traditionally worn on the Jewish sabbath. A few soldiers are standing among the settlers but do nothing when one of the settlers crouches down and opens fire at the crowd with what appears to be an automatic rifle.

The clips show the crowd carrying a wounded man, who is transferred to a stretcher, towards the village amid shouting and commotion.

The IDF spokesperson issued a statement saying security forces arrived at the scene to separate the sides. “Shots were fired during the incident, and the brigade commander is investigating the incident. At first glance, it appears the video does not present the entire event.”

Yitzhar spokesman Avraham Binyamin said that the settlement’s emergency security squad and fire-fighting team had been called to put out several fires started by Palestinian villagers.

“This is the third Saturday in a row that Arabs deliberately started fires,” he said. “The team was attacked by a mob of hundreds of rioters who hurled stones at them. When a person’s life is threatened, it’s his right to defend himself.”

The villagers accused the settlers of starting the trouble by stoning Palestinian homes. They said five other villagers were injured after being hit by stones.

Ahmed Abdul Hadi, the head of the Asira al-Qibliya council, said settlers frequently attack their community of 3,000 people. “This time, they clearly wanted to kill somebody. They don’t normally fire, but unfortunately, this time the army was there and watching. We hope the Israeli government will prevent the settlers from attacking us, not support them.”

B’tselem demanded that the police charge the settlers caught on camera firing at the Palestinians. They also asked the IDF’s military police to launch an investigation into the conduct of the soldiers in the video.

“From the footage of the incident, it seems that the soldiers who were present didn’t take any measures to stop the settlers from throwing stones, lighting fires and firing live rounds at the Palestinians. The soldiers didn’t try to get the settlers to leave and, in fact, stood by them while they threw stones and shot at the Palestinians,” B’tselem said.