Israeli Settler Filmed Firing Gun at Palestinian Protesters
According to B’Tselem, which uploaded the footage to YouTube, a large group of settlers, some masked and armed, approached the village from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar and began throwing rocks and starting fires. After a group of Palestinians gathered and threw rocks in return at the settlers, Israeli police and soldiers arrived on the scene.
One of the settlers is seen crouching while aiming and then firing his pistol at the group of Palestinians. Another settler is seen firing an assault rifle.
“The video footage raises grave suspicions that the soldiers present did not act to prevent the settlers from throwing stones and firing live ammunition at the Palestinians,” said B’Tselem. “The soldiers did not try to remove the settlers and in fact are seen standing by settlers while they are shooting and stone throwing.”
In a statement, the Israeli defence forces said it was investigating the shooting. Security forces arrived at the scene following stone-throwing by both sides in an effort to separate them. “There was a shooting during the incident and the matter is being investigated’ but on the surface, the video that was released does not seem to represent the whole incident.”