Video: Israeli settler drives ATV into Palestinian kneeling for prayer; IDF confiscates weapon
An Israeli settler, with a rifle slung over his back, drove his ATV into a Palestinian man kneeling for prayer on the side of a road in the West Bank, reported Times of Israel, citing Palestinian media.The incident occurred near the village of Deir Jarir, north of Ramallah. In the silent video, the Palestinian is seen falling over and lying in a heap after being struck. The settler then dismounts the ATV, yells at the man, and gestures for him to leave the area.The footage also shows the settler walking over to a Palestinian taxi and shouting at the driver before getting back on the ATV and driving away.The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the Israeli seen in the video was a reserve soldier. The military said his weapon was confiscated and his reserve service suspended following the incident.Police said the suspect had been arrested Thursday night and placed under house arrest for five days.According to the military, an initial probe found that the same reserve soldier had earlier opened fire inside the village while wearing civilian clothes, an act the IDF described as a “serious breach of his authority.”Earlier the same day, a young Palestinian man was reportedly wounded in Deir Jarir after settlers hurled stones and fired a gun in the village, reported Times of Israel.Violence in the West Bank has surged since the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war began, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.The IDF says the vast majority of those killed were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
