Palestinians transport the bodies of loved ones killed during Israeli bombardment for burial in al-Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City on June 22, 2024. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Jenin, Palestinian Territories: Israeli troops tied a wounded Palestinian to a military vehicle during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the army said Sunday, admitting that soldiers had violated operational procedures.
Footage of the incident, which occurred on Saturday, has gone viral and shows a man strapped horizontally to the bonnet of a military jeep as it passes through a narrow alley.
Medics identified the Palestinian as Mujahid Raed Abbadi, 24, who told AFP he lives in the Jenin refugee camp.
The military said a Palestinian man was wounded during a "counterterrorism operation" to arrest wanted suspects in the area of Wadi Burqin, between the town of Burqin and Jenin.
During an exchange of fire between troops and militants in Burqin's Jabriyat neighbourhood, a Palestinian was wounded and apprehended, the military said in a statement.
The statement referred to him as a "suspect", but did not specify any accusations against Abbadi, who medics told AFP was being treated at Jenin's Ibn Sina hospital, and not in Israeli custody.
The military said: "In violation of orders and standard operating procedures, the suspect was taken by the forces while tied on top of a vehicle."
He was later transferred to the Palestinian Red Crescent for treatment, it said. "The conduct of the forces in the video of the incident does not conform to the values of the IDF (military)," the statement said.
"The incident will be investigated and dealt with accordingly."
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, suggested the troops were using Abbadi to shield themselves from gunfire.
"#HumanShielding in action", Albanese wrote on social media platform X, sharing footage of the incident.
At the hospital, Abbadi said he was hit and wounded as he stepped out of his uncle's house in Jabriyat.
"I tried to withdraw and get inside the house, but they started shooting", hitting him in the hand, Abbadi told AFP in his hospital bed.
