Liberman: Sniper filmed shooting Palestinian ‘deserves medal’
Israeli minister praised an Israeli sniper who was filmed shooting an unarmed Palestinian in the besieged Gaza Strip.
“The sniper deserves a medal, the photographer a court martial,” Avigdor Liberman said at a press conference on Tuesday, I24NEWS reported.
Following Lieberman’s remarks, the army revealed that the video was filmed on December 22, 2017 in the area of Kissufim near the Gaza Strip.
AFP quoted a Palestinian, Tamer Abu Daqqa, 28, as saying on Wednesday that he recognized himself in the video, which was filmed on December 22 in southern Gaza, particularly due to the red jacket he was wearing.
AFP could not independently verify Abu Daqqa’s comments, but separate footage from that day shows him in hospital after being shot in his leg, which is still in plaster four months after the incident.
The Palestinian said he was posing no threat to soldiers at the time, after the video of the incident went viral.
In the video, which was widely shared on Twitter and Whatsapp messaging application Monday, the troops can be heard talking about the target and how to shoot him, as the sniper trains his rifle on the Palestinian, who does not appear to be armed and is several meters away from Gaza’s fence, Press TV wrote.
The sniper and the other soldiers are heard rejoicing following the “successful” shooting.
A fellow accomplice, who is filming the incident, then exclaims, “Of course I filmed it,” in response to a question, before calling it “a legendary video.”
The footage has drawn widespread condemnation from Israeli lawmakers and human rights organizations.
Rights bodies have argued that the video represents what is the rule for the Israeli military, rather than the exception. The Israeli rights group, B’tselem, said the military issues “illegal orders telling soldiers to shoot people who endanger nobody.”