Four Border Police officers suspended for violence against settler, Palestinian

Police say four Border Police officers have been suspended from service following the violent arrest of settler activists in the West Bank and a violent arrest of a Palestinian at a checkpoint near Jerusalem.

In the first incident, Border Police officers are seen attempting to detain a man during protests against the removal of trees planted by a settler without authorization, near Shiloh.

Footage shows the officers pushing one man to the ground, with one officer kicking him and another punching him. Several others are violently detained in the area, the video shows.

Three officers are suspended following this incident, police say.

בעיטה לפנים????

באיזו מדינה אנחנו חיים??

צולם הבוקר בהחרבת הכרם בגוש שילה

קרדיט לסרטון: חוננו pic.twitter.com/GGu5rHxIbx

— ארגון חוננו (@honenu1) February 15, 2023

In the second incident, footage shared on social media shows a Border Police officer ordering a Palestinian teenager at the Shuafat checkpoint in East Jerusalem to take his shirt off.

The officer then walks up to the suspect and punches him, before detaining him.

A Palestinian woman waiting at the checkpoint in a car, reportedly the teen’s sister, attempts to intervene and is confronted by the officers.

It is unclear what the teen was suspected of.

أجبروه على خلع ملابسه رغم الأجواء الباردة ثم اعتدوا عليه بالضرب واعتقلوه، وعندما حاولت شقيقته توثيق لحظة اعتقاله هاجمتها إحدى المجندات.. الاحتلال ينكل بعائلة مقدسية على حاجز مخيم شعفاط pic.twitter.com/zMsLO4XMoF

— AlQastal القسطل (@AlQastalps) February 15, 2023

Border Police chief Amir Cohen says the incidents will be investigated, and meanwhile, the four officers involved have been suspended.

Cohen says the “unusual incidents of violence are not in accordance with the spirit of the force.”