Israel probes video of police pushing over Palestinian in wheelchair

Israel said yesterday it was examining an online video showing a border policeman push over a Palestinian in a wheelchair as tensions rose following an attempted stabbing in the West Bank.

The video, filmed by a local activist, has stirred Palestinian anger.

The video was said to have been taken on Sunday after a 20-year-old Palestinian woman was shot while trying to stab an Israeli policeman in the flashpoint city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians in the area attempted to approach the woman, who was left in critical condition, as Israeli border police tried to keep them back.

An officer is seen pushing the man in the wheelchair, which then tips over backwards.

Some Palestinians then move forward toward the man in the wheelchair while another officer points his weapon at one of them, kicks him and orders him back, before firing a stun grenade.

The man was not seriously hurt in the scuffle.

One Palestinian online condemned “the savagery and cowardice of the occupation”.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli justice ministry said “the case is under investigation” by its police investigations department, declining to provide further details.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident occurred “a few minutes after a terrorist attack had taken place by a woman terrorist adjacent to that area”.

“A crowd gathered and attempted to get into the area where the attack had taken place,” he said.

“Border police dispersed the crowd and used non-lethal means. The man in the wheelchair was part of that crowd that had gathered.”

Tensions have been high since a wave of Palestinian gun, knife and car-ramming attacks erupted at the start of October.

The violence has claimed the lives of 26 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count.

Source :AFP