In B'Tselem clip, IDF soldiers cheer after shooting protester near Nablus
In the video, one of the soldiers is shown taking aim at a Palestinian, shooting, and gleefully exclaiming "I hit him! The son of a bitch."
By TAMAR BEN-OZERUpdated: APRIL 24, 2018 16:35Israeli soldiers cheer after shooting a Palestinian protester in the village of Madama/btselem
A two-minute video released by Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem on Tuesday contains footage of three IDF soldiers cheering after one of them shoots a rubber bullet at a Palestinian protester, who is not shown in the clip.The accompanying B'Tselem report states that at approximately 2:00 in the afternoon on Friday, April 13, clashes erupted outside the Palestinian village of Madama, near Nablus, after residents tried to remove a roadblock placed by the IDF at the eastern entrance to the village.About a dozen soldiers then arrived on the scene and responded by shooting stun grenades and rubber-coated metal bullets at the residents, who threw stones at them. According to the report, the stone-throwers were some 50-80 meters away from the soldiers.In the video, one of the soldiers is shown taking aim at a Palestinian, shooting, and then gleefully exclaiming "I hit him! The son of a bitch."One of his comrades then quiets him down, saying, "Stay professional."The video cuts to a shot of the soldiers discussing their ammunition: "One live bullet and this would all be over," one man mutters."We don't fire live ammunition. We don't need it," the same one who maintained the need to stay professional replies.The shooter then complains, "You can't hit with a rubber bullet, you just can't."The clip ends with a brief shot of the protesters, live fire, and an ambulance driving away.As a result of the clashes, seven Palestinians sustained injuries from the rubber-coated bullets, two of whom were taken to a hospital in Nablus for treatment and five of whom were treated on the spot.
Also on April 13, hundreds of Palestinians were wounded and one was killed in clashes with IDF soldiers on the Gaza border, as weekly Friday protests intensify in the time period surrounding Land Day, Israel's Independence Day and the upcoming Palestinian Nakba day.