Disturbing new footage taken Saturday appears to show an IDF soldier kicking a handcuffed man as he kneels on the ground in Israel's southern Negev region.
The video was taken by several locals who were passing by in their car around 12:30am.
Footage of IDF soldiers allegedly beating a handcuffed man in the Negev
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One of the passengers told Ynet that he and the other people in the car spotted the unusual sight on the wayside of the road as they drove by and decided to record the incident.
"I was shocked when I saw IDF soldiers beating a young man, probably a resident of the West Bank," he said.
"I stopped for a while to see what was going on and then one of the troops yelled at me to go away as he put his hand on his weapon, so I left the place so they won't frame me up."
Another eyewitness said that the handcuffed man seemed mortified.
"I heard screaming and insults, and I saw the poor guy getting beaten," he said.
"I couldn't get close because I was scared they'd shoot me. I don't know why the soldiers acted like this. If they wanted to arrest him, this could have been done without violence. This kind of action has happened before, especially against workers from the West Bank."
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in response the "incident is under investigation, and it is repugnant and directly contradicts the values of the IDF."
Tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers enter Israel legally every day seeking better-paying jobs than the ones available in the struggling Palestinian economy.
However, many other West Bank Palestinians who cannot obtain work permits sneak into Israel illegally. Israel tries to crack down on these undocumented workers for security concerns as many terrorist attacks against Israelis over the years were carried out by Palestinians who entered the country illegally.
Thousands of Israel Police and Border Police officers will be stationed across Jerusalem to prevent terrorist activity during the tense holiday season.