Israeli Army A wounded Palestinian was tied to the top of a military vehicle The scene, captured on video during an operation in the occupied West Bank on Saturday morning, quickly went viral, sparking outrage and promises of an investigation by the Israeli military.
Israeli forces raided the Palestinian town of Wadi Burkin on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday morning, arresting Palestinians suspected of ties to militant groups. Jenin, a longtime stronghold of loosely organized militant groups, has come under increasing pressure from Israeli forces over the past few months.
A gunfight broke out between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces, the army said. Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian man wounded in the shooting, who was later identified by his family as Mujahid Barras, 22, of Jenin.
“In violation of orders and standard operating procedures, the suspect was taken to the unit tied to the top of a vehicle,” the Israeli army said, adding that such actions were “not in keeping with military values.”
The Israeli military says it will investigate, but rights groups have frequently criticized the country’s military justice system, saying it rarely prosecutes or convicts those suspected of inappropriate violence against Palestinians.
The Israeli army said its forces handed the wounded over to the Palestinian Red Crescent for treatment. Barras was shot in the leg and arm and had burns on his skin from lying on the bonnet of a car in the hot sun, his father, Raed Barras, said.
“These people know no limits,” he said of the soldiers who bound his son.
Mujahid Barrass had been visiting his uncle’s house to play cards during a weekend getaway, his father said, adding that his son was not involved in any extremist activity and that Israeli security forces eventually released Barrass after the raid.
“If they had any reason, they would not have released him,” Raed Baras said.
Violence has increased in the occupied West Bank in the eight months since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack that sparked the war in Gaza. More than 500 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have been killed in the territory, according to the United Nations, and thousands of Palestinians have been arrested in near-nightly Israeli raids.
