A group of Israeli soldiers and settlers, last week, conducted a series of brutal assaults against three Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, reported The Times of Israel.
According to the victims’ accounts, as reported by Haaretz, they were subjected to hours of abuse on 12 October. They were physically assaulted, stripped to their underwear, bound and photographed. Additionally, two of them were urinated on, one had cigarettes extinguished on his body and another was sexually assaulted, with an Israeli assailant attempting to sodomise him.
The Israeli Army has initiated an investigation into the incident, and the commanding officer involved has been removed from duty.
The abuse took place in the Palestinian village of Wadi Al-Seeq, located east of Ramallah, which had seen a recent increase in settler attacks against the local Palestinian shepherding community, leading to the evacuation of most of its Palestinian residents in the past few weeks.
According to Haaretz, on the morning of 12 October, a handful of Palestinian residents in Wadi Al-Seeq, along with the assistance of a group of left-wing Israelis, two Palestinian activists from Ramallah were preparing to leave until pickup trucks arrived, carrying around 20 to 25 Israelis dressed in Israeli Army uniforms.
In response, 46-year-old Muhammad Mattar swiftly turned his car around to use an alternate route and contacted the Palestinian Authority’s liaison with the Israeli military to report the attack.
However, Mattar and 27-year-old Muhammad Khaled, were forcibly pulled from their vehicles by the Israelis and beaten with weapons. The Israelis also proceeded to shove their heads into the dirt, and kick them before tying their hands.
The Palestinian activists recognised some of the uniformed settlers from nearby illegal outposts. According to Mattar, the soldiers then searched his bag, allegedly discovering several large knives. Mattar accused the soldiers of planting these weapons, insisting that he would not have contacted Israeli authorities if he had been in possession of items that could lead to his arrest.
Mattar recounted that the soldiers informed both him and Khaled that they were being placed under arrest and that a group of Shin Bet security service agents was on their way to interrogate them.
According to Khaled, a white GMC truck bearing a Star of David, from which six to eight more soldiers came out from and who they believed were Shin Bet officers.
The two activists were then taken to an abandoned structure and blindfolded. One of the soldiers used a knife to cut their clothing, ordering them to lie face down, wearing nothing but their underwear.
The Israelis proceeded to subject the Palestinians to severe physical abuse, using an iron pipe to beat them all over their bodies, including their heads. They also stubbed out cigarettes on Khaled’s body, and even attempted to extract his fingernails. Furthermore, the attackers forced their faces into the ground, including in filth.
Source : MEMO