IDF Punishes Soldiers for Harassing Palestinians

The Israeli military said Thursday it has disciplined three soldiers after a video emerged that seemed to show them hurling a stun grenade at Palestinian men smoking a water pipe in the Shomron region.

In the video, captured by a surveillance camera, an Israeli military jeep pulls up to the four Palestinians, stops briefly, then drives away as a stun grenade explodes in the frame, sending the Palestinians fleeing. The military said a platoon sergeant was sent to jail for 10 days and two other soldiers were also disciplined for acting “contrary to military standards.”

Earlier this month, Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced a $10.6 million project to equip police with body cameras in order to discourage misconduct and to provide documentation to confirm or disprove allegations against the police.