Israeli soldiers seen shoving ‘bodies’ off roof in ‘disturbing’ video
The Israeli military is investigating a “disturbing” video showing its troops shoving what appear to be bodies off a roof during a raid in the occupied West Bank.
The videos, which began circulating online on Thursday, appeared to show three soldiers on top of a building in the town of Qabatiya, dragging, throwing and in one case kicking bodies off the edge.
Zakaria Zakarneh, the uncle of one of the dead men, told Reuters he saw Israeli soldiers go to the roof after the Palestinians were killed.
“They tried to move the bodies down with a bulldozer but it didn’t work so they threw them from the second floor down to the ground,” Mr Zakarneh said.
“I was in pain, very sad and angry I was unable to do anything,” he added.
The Israeli military said the incident was “serious” and was not in keeping with its values.
On Friday, the White House described the footage as “deeply disturbing” and said it had demanded an explanation from Israel.
“We’ve seen that video, and we found it deeply disturbing. If it’s proven to be authentic, it clearly would depict abhorrent and egregious behaviour by professional soldiers,” said John Kirby, a US national security council spokesman.
In a separate statement, the Israeli military said that on Thursday its soldiers had killed seven militants in gun battles and an airstrike in Qabatiya.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza nearly a year ago, with almost daily sweeps by Israeli forces.
Thousands have been arrested in the raids that have regularly seen gun battles break out between security forces and Palestinian militants, as well as attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian communities.
Israeli troops or settlers have allegedly killed at least 682 Palestinians in the West Bank since October, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
