IDF uses marker to tag interrogated Palestinian on forehead, months after admitting policy inappropriate

IDF soldiers are still using markers to tag Palestinians on their bodies after it assured reporters several months ago that the practice was inappropriate and would cease.

A Palestinian interrogated by troops during a raid of the northern West Bank village of Qabatiya on Monday spoke to Palestinian media with the number 44 still seen on his forehead.

He says troops marked him along with others that it interrogated during its raid of the village.

Mr. No. 44 speaks about his arrest by the army.

The army writes numbers on the skin of young men from the West Bank for identification and interrogation. pic.twitter.com/Zbk2eEdSej

— Abo Bashar ابو بشار (@abomoamar) August 17, 2026

During the interrogation, the Qabatiya resident says troops warned him not to take part in clashes against settlers if the latter raids the village. Such settler incursions have become common throughout the West Bank, where violence by Israeli extremists has gone largely unchecked.

A similar incident unfolded in April, when Israeli troops used a marker to tag the hands of Palestinians it was allowing to briefly return to the Jenin refugee camp to gather their belongings.

The IDF has been conducting a counterterror operation in the camp for months, displacing thousands of Palestinians who were living there.

The army said troops were trying to maintain an orderly return of the residents to the refugee camp, which the IDF has divided into sections that it identifies by a number and a letter.

The IDF claimed writing the section of the camp to which each resident was from on their respective hand was the Palestinians’ idea.

Still, “this was a case of poor judgment,” the army said in a statement, insisting that proper conduct has been clarified and that lessons have been learned after critics accused the IDF of dehumanizing Palestinians.

After the latest incident unfolded in Qabatiya, a military source acknowledges to The Times of Israel that the soldiers involved acted inappropriately and that steps would be taken to address what happened.