4 soldiers arrested on suspicion of beating 3 Arab Israelis
Troops allegedly carried out unauthorized stop of vehicle near Israeli city of Kafr Qasim, attacked car’s occupants
Four Israel Defense Forces troops were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of beating three Arab Israelis last week.
The soldiers, including an officer, allegedly beat the victims during an unauthorized traffic stop near the central Arab Israeli city of Kafr Qasim, the Ynet news site reported.
The troops allegedly carried out a patrol near the city, noticed the complainants’ vehicle, and demanded they present identification, although the soldiers were not authorized to make the request.
After stopping the vehicle, the soldiers beat the occupants, the complainants said.
The suspects were brought before a military court for a hearing.
The IDF said in a statement: “An officer and three soldiers were arrested for the purpose of an investigation by military police investigators on suspicion of violent crime and property crime.”
Law enforcement operations inside Israel are the purview of the police, and are not handled by the military.
Kafr Qasim is adjacent to the West Bank border, east of Tel Aviv.
Earlier this month, soldiers chasing two Palestinian suspects who infiltrated through the West Bank security barrier entered Kafr Qasim and clashed with locals, lightly injuring five.
The IDF said the entry of troops to Kafr Qasim, which would normally be handled by police, was against regulations and the incident would be further investigated.
Several Palestinian terrorists managed to enter Israel from the West Bank through gaps in the fence during a string of attacks in the spring of last year, whereupon the military deployed numerous units to the security barrier area.
The number of Palestinians identified illegally crossing through the barrier dropped from around 30,000 a day in March 2022 to several hundred a day since April 2022, and down further to several dozen a day in recent months, according to the IDF.
