Disturbing footage from the West Bank published by an Israeli human rights group shows IDF soldiers discussing how to improve land shots on unarmed Palestinian protesters and cheering as they hit them with rubber bullets.
The video shows three Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers standing on a road that leads to a Palestinian settlement and firing at a group of Palestinians, who gathered meters away. The soldiers are also seen routinely discussing the best ways to fire at people.
“It is far, still too far. Wait for them to come nearer,” one soldier is heard telling the other when preparing to fire a shot. They also discourage each other from shooting from a longer distance, as it would apparently scare the protesters off.
“We need one good hit and that is it. That will teach them not to throw stones,” one soldier says at some point. The same soldier is heard saying in the video that the stones, which were apparently being thrown by the Palestinians, did not even reach the soldiers’ position. The men are also shown to be reacting with excitement after one of them apparently hits a protester with a rubber bullet.
Disturbingly, one of the soldiers then remarks: “One live bullet and the whole thing will be over,” to which the other one replies that they “do not need live fire.” The former then complains that one cannot effectively shoot a person with a rubber bullet.
The Israeli military placed a roadblock at the eastern entrance to the village. When the Palestinians attempted to remove the roadblock in a protest move, a total of 11 Israeli soldiers arrived. At some point, the Palestinians started hurling stones at the soldiers. It is, however, unclear if the soldiers started firing in response to the protesters’ actions or before the Palestinians began throwing stones.
Source: Sott
