A Palestinian was critically injured on Friday after being shot by IDF troops in the West Bank, Israeli media reported.
The incident reportedly took place in the village of At-Tuwani located in the southern area of Mount Hebron, during confrontations that developed between Palestinians and IDF combat engineering soldiers who were in the area in order to seize equipment used in an illegal Palestinian construction site.
During the confrontations, a young Palestinian man named Haron Abu Aram was shot in his neck and was critically injured.
A video from the incident shows a struggle between a group of Palestinians and IDF soldiers, as several soldiers lift a generator in an attempt to seize it and are met with resistance by several Palestinians trying to pull it back. In the background, two gunshots are heard, the first of which hit the Palestinian.
משרד הבריאות הפלסטיני מדווח על פלסטיני שנורה בצווארו ומצבו אנוש בדרום הר חברון. בסרטון פה מתועד האירוע, במהלכו חיילים מחרימים גנרטור מפלסטינים שמנסים לקחת אותו חזרה. נשמעות שתי יריות, כשהראשונה מביניהם היא זאת שפוגעת בפצוע. pic.twitter.com/b7Zx7vRwzB
— Hagar Shezaf (@HShezaf) January 1, 2021
The injured Palestinian was evacuated to a nearby hospital in Hebron.
Following the incident, dozens of Palestinians arrived to the scene and the confrontations expanded, with some Palestinians reportedly lighting up tires and throwing them towards the troops.
Commander of the Judea Division, responsible for the area of Hebron, Col. Avichai Zafrani already said that he will investigate the incident and determine what led the soldier to shoot.Later on Friday, N12 reported that the initial investigation pointed to an unintentional discharge by one of the soldiers on the scene that led to the accident. However, the incident drew criticism nonetheless, with MK Aida Touma-Suleiman (Joint List) calling settlers and soldiers "two hands of the same oppressive system" in a tweet. "Today, a soldier shot a Palestinian while trying to seize a generator. These crimes won't end until the occupation does," she tweeted. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that it was looking into the incident. "During a routine mission of seizing illegal equipment carried out by IDF and Border Police troops at At-Tuwani village, in the area of the Judea Regional Division, a violent riot developed with the participation of 150 Palestinians ... IDF troops responded by using means for dispersing protests. During the riot, a number of Palestinians violently attacked the soldiers and a Palestinian was reportedly shot with live ammunition. The incident is being investigated," an IDF Spokesperson's Unit statement read.
The IDF recently said that it was increasing security measures in the West Bank following several violent incidents in the past few weeks, including the murder of Esther Horgen near Tal Menashe, a settlement in northern Samaria and a terrorist attack in Jerusalem's Old City near the Lion's Gate carried out by a 17-year-old Palestinian from Kabatiya, near Jenin.