Yesh Din accuses member of Border Police of throwing stun grenade at Palestinian couple with infant near Nablus
Authorities say video was edited and therefore is deceptive, and that he would not have done this if he had seen child
A video released by the leftwing group Yesh Din shows a Border Police officer throwing a stun grenade at a Palestinian couple holding an infant in Burin, near Nablus, on Friday.
In the video, four officers can be seen walking down a path near a small stone building. A Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance with its lights flashing is parked on the other side of the structure.
A couple with an infant run from behind the ambulance and away from the structure. They are briefly pursued by an officer who also comes from the area of the ambulance and throws a stun grenade at them.
According to Yesh Din: Volunteers for Human Rights, a group of Palestinians had gathered near the home after hearing that a few Israeli civilians had tried to enter the village.
Border police who arrived at the scene directed tear gas at the group, and one of the canisters entered the home. The residents of the home called an ambulance, so they could be treated for tear gas inhalation.
The couple with the baby ran from the house to get away from the tear gas, Yesh Din said.
A Border Police spokesman said in response that the video showed edited images that only partially depicted the event.
He added that the officer hadn’t seen the baby and that had he done so he would have acted differently.
The video does not show the dozens of Palestinian rioters who threw stones at the officers near the home, the spokesman said.
Despite this violence the police agreed to a request from the Red Crescent to evacuate a man from the home near where the riot was taking place.
During the evacuation the police noticed what looked like two suspects trying to escape from the scene to evade arrest – the couple.