New video footage captured by AFP news agency on Wednesday shows armed undercover Israeli special forces, who have infiltrated a Palestinian protest disguised as Arab stone-throwers, turning on the group before beating and detaining three stone-throwers near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
The protest, taking place at a checkpoint near the occupied West Bank settlement of Bet El, saw several hundred Palestinians throwing stones towards Israeli forces and civilians on the route to and from Jerusalem, the Israeli military told Newsweek in a statement. The footage shows the undercover forces, clad in Arab keffiyeh headdresses to hide their identity, draw their guns on the stone-throwers, causing them to disperse.
In the unfolding incident, Israeli forces detained a number of Palestinian protesters, with one being kicked and punched more than 25 times in the footage captured by Italian AFP video journalist Andrea Bernardi, based in Jerusalem. Three people were wounded, including one in critical condition after being shot in the back of the head but this was not shown in the footage, according to the news agency.
In a blog about the incident, Bernardi wrote that some of the undercover agents fired "live bullets into a crowd of protesters" alongside others who fired into the air to disperse the crowd.
Footage of the incident taken from another angle and circulated online shows one of the undercover Israeli officers shooting a Palestinian stone-thrower—the same individual filmed being beaten by Israeli forces—in the leg at close-range as he is held on the ground by other Israeli soldiers.
In a statement released to Newsweek, the Israeli military said that the officer shot the Palestinian detainee as his life was in danger and said that the suspect had received medical attention after his arrest.
"During the arrests the suspect physically resisted while the soldiers were barraged with rocks and surrounded by a hostile mob," the statement reads. "The soldier responded with a direct shot to the instigator's leg, allowing the soldier to successfully complete the arrest and remove himself from life-threatening danger."
Israeli military spokesperson Peter Lerner confirmed the undercover operation in a video post of the incident on his Facebook page late Wednesday. "Special Forces, a small, select group of men, infiltrated the masses and posed as Palestinians," he wrote. "In the few seconds when they activated their mission, they scared everybody around to disperse. These guys are courageous, daring and are putting themselves at risk for the rest of us. Two words - THANK YOU."
The special forces unit of the Israeli military is known as the Duvedan and the undercover counter-terror unit of the special forces is known as the "Mistaravim," which translates as "hidden Arabs." They are trained to blend in with Palestinian populations in order to carry out arrests.
Daniel Nisman, president of the Tel Aviv-based risk consultancy The Levantine Group, says that the use of the Mistaravim unit infiltrating Palestinian protests is one of the most effective ways for Israeli forces to operate in the Palestinian territories.
"It's a common practice in the West Bank, that's how they neutralise people who are causing disruptions and apprehend the leaders of these riots," he says. "It's a very, very precise method of targeting these people for arrest. Instead of tear gas and rubber bullets, you physically remove them."
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