Israeli soldiers caught on video beating Palestinian

An Israeli human rights group has released security camera footage showing the beating and violent, wrongful arrest of a Palestinian onlooker by Israeli soldiers during clashes earlier in October.

The video opens with Ansar Aasi, 25, standing at the entrance to the storage room of the cleaning company where he works in al-Bireh, a town near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Aasi, wearing blue jeans and a red T-shirt, is seen bringing boxes inside the narrow room before being spotted by Israeli troops. Suspecting him of stone throwing, the soldiers storm in and start to kick and beat him, before arresting him.

B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group that released the video, said Aasi required medical treatment and was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital on October 7.

He was then held in detention for two days before he was even questioned, the group said.

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“Police interrogators there told him that three soldiers identified him as a stone thrower. In spite of his denials, the police did not bother to check his alibi claim, in spite of the existence of footage,” B’Tselem said in a statement.

It took a further three days for Aasi’s alibi to be checked by Israeli police before he was released.

Aasi said he was not involved in violence.

“I raised my hand and told them I didn’t do anything, but they beat me everywhere,” he told the AP news agency.

The Reuters news agency reported that the Israel military said initial inquiries suggested a breach of standards, but investigations were continuing.