Video: Officer aims cocked rifle at Palestinian boy
Ynet obtains footage from incident in Hebron showing confrontation between Border Guard officers, local Palestinian children
A Border Guard officer was caught on tape aiming a cocked rifle at a 13-year-old Palestinian during a confrontation at the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron last month.
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Footage of the incident was obtained by Ynet on Saturday. According to the Border Guard, stones were hurled at officers from different directions, including from rooftops. However, the B'Tselem human rights group claimed a Border Guard officer tried to strike the Palestinian boy following an argument. The boy was with his brothers, aged nine and 11, during the incident, the Israeli organization said.
Incident in Hebron (Footage courtesy of B'Tselem)
"The officer said 'one,' and I said 'two, three,'" the Palestinian boy recounted. "He got mad, walked towards me and tried to grab me. He tried to hit me with his bullet-proof vest and it hurt. I walked away." At this point, when one of the boys was apprehended after he had picked up a stone, the officer aimed his personal rifle at him.
The incident was caught on tape by the children's father. The boy who picked up the rock was taken to a nearby police station and later released to the custody of Palestinian police after his father signed a document in which he promised to keep his son away from Border Guard forces.
A Border Guard spokesman said, "The incident shown in the footage is only partial. Stones were thrown at the officers from a number of locations and even from nearby rooftops. Two people, who were involved in the incident, were detained. However, Border Guard Commander Major-General Yoram Halevy has ordered an investigation into the incident, and if it reveals that the officers acted against Border Guard protocols, they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
