7 IDF soldiers held for allegedly beating Palestinians
Combat troops from ultra-Orthodox battalion charged with hitting suspects detained during operation near Jenin
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Seven IDF soldiers were arrested Wednesday on suspicion that they beat Palestinians who were detained during a military operation near the West Bank city of Jenin.
The soldiers belong to the Kfir Brigade’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion, according to an Israel Radio report. The unit was conceived as a means of accommodating for the demands of ultra-Orthodox observance in the ranks of the IDF.
Three of the soldiers were suspected of assaulting a wanted Palestinian man who was arrested two weeks ago. The men were suspected of beating him in the face in a bathroom on an IDF base. The soldiers claimed that they used reasonable force after the Palestinian refused to leave the room.
The other four soldiers were suspected of beating detained Palestinians in other incidents, all of which allegedly took place in recent weeks.
In a statement, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit called the most recent alleged beating “a grave incident that does not reflect IDF training or standards. Following an investigation by the brigade commander, the case is now being investigated by the military police.”
The report of the soldiers’ arrest came as the Military Police’s investigative unit was probing allegations that IDF soldiers took part in the brutal beating of an Eritrean man who was shot by security forces last week after they mistook him for a Palestinian terrorist during a shooting attack on the Beersheba central bus station. The Israel Prisons Service has already begun disciplinary proceedings against two of its employees suspected of involvement in the October 18 incident.
In June, the IDF court-martialed three soldiers from the Kfir Brigade after they were captured on video beating an unarmed Palestinian man during a clash with Palestinians in the West Bank. It sentenced two soldiers to suspended prison sentences and ordered detention on base for a third.
The IDF ordered an investigation into that beating during a confrontation last Friday in the Jalazoun refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Times of Israel Community.