February 8, 2013
Media Outlet:
Xinhua
Date:
February 8, 2013 Palestinian residents of a West Bank village near Nablus shot video footage of Israeli soldiers disturbing their daily lives, the Ynet news website reported Thursday.
The Palestinian residents of the Urif village captured the soldiers making noise and throwing stun grenades across the village in order to interrupt the villagers' rest during one night in November 2012.
In the video, the soldiers are seen using a public address system mounted on military vehicles, bombarding the village with the sounds of deafening horns.
In addition, the video shows the soldiers patrolling the village, operating sirens and horns and calling the residents to " wake up" at nighttime.
One of the soldiers is seen shouting "Sabah al-nur, Urif" ( meaning "Good Morning Urif") through public address system. They also threw stun grenades and light flares as they rode along the village's roads.
According to the residents of Urif, the events unfolding in the video have repeated over several nights.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Unit said in response to the report that it had opened an official investigation as to the circumstances of the incident.
"During an activity which took place in November, the public address system was used against the army's orders," the IDF said in its statement.
"The force's commander has been reprimanded following the event, " the statement added.
The Yesh Din Human Rights group, working to assure the rights of Palestinian civilians, launched a letter to the IDF's advocate general, requesting to embark on an immediate criminal investigation into this incident.
"These suspected offenses of abuse and exceeding authority have got to be investigated," Emily Schaeffer, a lawyer working with the organization, wrote in the above-mentioned letter.
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