Security sources say junior officer suspended for failing to report incident in Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFSoldiers using live fire against stone throwers 370(photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
The IDF on Tuesday night admitted it was likely that live fire had been used in response to a stone-throwing incident in the Palestinian village of Nabi Salih last Friday.It said it had opened an investigation into the incident.But it added that, based on an initial investigation, it appeared that live fire had been used.Security sources said that a junior officer had been suspended from his post for failing to report the incident.A video, which showed the officer firing his gun, was broadly publicized Tuesday by pro-Palestinian group the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee.The two-minute video shows two Palestinian men, with scarves covering their faces, standing on a paved road throwing stones at armed IDF soldiers on a rocky ridge above them.A soldier responds by both firing his gun and throwing a return volley of stones at the young men. Some five other soldiers appear near him, spreading on the hill above the road near the village.The popular committee said that from their perch on the hill the officers had a strategic advantage over the stone throwers, and that their lives were not in danger.The committee added that there was no reason for the soldiers to use live fire in this situation.
For over three years, Palestinians have held weekly protests in Nabi Salih to protest Israel’s continued military presence in the West Bank. The protests often turn into violent clashes between IDF soldiers and Palestinians.
