Israeli troops tied a wounded Palestinian to the roof of a military vehicle on Saturday morning during an operation in the occupied West Bank, a scene that was captured on video and quickly went viral, sparking outrage and promises of an investigation by of the Israeli army.
Israeli soldiers raided Wadi Burqin, a Palestinian town on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jenin, on Saturday morning to arrest Palestinians suspected of involvement in militant groups. Jenin, a long-time stronghold of loosely organized armed groups, has suffered repeated crackdowns by the Israeli army in recent months.
A firefight broke out between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers, the military said. Israeli troops arrested a Palestinian wounded in the shooting. The man's family later identified him as Mujahid Ballas, 22, a resident of Jenin.
“In violation of orders and standard operating procedures, the suspect was seized by the forces while he was tied on top of a vehicle,” the Israeli military said, adding that such conduct “does not conform to the values” of its army.
Although the Israeli military said it would investigate, human rights groups have regularly criticized the country's military justice system, which they say rarely charges or convicts those accused of inappropriate violence against Palestinians.
Troops handed over the injured man to the Palestinian Red Crescent for medical treatment, the Israeli military said. Mr. Ballas had been shot in the leg and arm and had burns on his skin from lying on the hood of the vehicle in the hot sun, said his father, Raed Ballas.
“These people have no limits,” he said, referring to the soldiers who tied up his son.
Mujahid Ballas was visiting his uncle's house to play cards during the weekend holiday, his father said. He denied that his son was involved in any militant activity, pointing to the fact that Israeli security services had finally released him after the raid.
“If they had the slightest bit of reason, they wouldn't have let him go,” Raed Ballas said.
Violence in the occupied West Bank has increased in the eight months since the Hamas-led attack on October 7 that started the war on Gaza. According to the United Nations, more than 500 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have been killed in the territory, and thousands of Palestinians have been arrested in near-nightly Israeli raids.