Israeli army says troops ignored procedures by strapping wounded Palestinian to car

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant heads to Washington for ‘critical’ meetings on Gaza war

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A wounded Palestinian man was tied to an Israeli military vehicle following a raid in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said on Sunday, in an effort to use him as a human shield.

The army admitted that the soldiers had ignored operational procedures when detaining Jenin resident Mujahed Azmi.

The incident happened on Saturday and videos circulated on social media triggered anger around the world.

They showed Mr Azmi strapped horizontally to the bonnet of a military jeep as it passed through a narrow alley near two ambulances.

“In violation of orders and standard operating procedures, the suspect was taken by the forces while tied on top of a vehicle,” the army said in a statement.

“The conduct of the forces in the video of the incident does not conform to the values of the IDF [military],” it said.

Mr Azmi was wounded during a “counterterrorism operation” to arrest wanted suspects, according to the military.

During an exchange of fire between troops and militants, one of the suspects was wounded and apprehended, the military said in a statement.

Israeli soldiers later released Mr Azmi, allowing paramedics to take him to hospital where he was taken to an operating room, they said.

The UN special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, called it “human shielding in action”.

“It is flabbergasting how a state born 76 years ago has managed to turn international law literally on its head,” she said on social media channel X.

“This risks being the end of multilateralism, which for some influential member states no longer serves any relevant purpose.”

Violence in the West Bank, which was already on the rise before the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7, has escalated.

At least 553 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war broke out in October, according to Palestinian officials.

On Sunday, three children were arrested by Israel’s armed forces during a raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Uday Raed Awad, 14, was severely beaten, the news agency said.

The three children were among eight people from Hebron governorate who were arrested. A man from Qalqilya city and another from Nablus were also arrested.