US condemns Israeli troops’ ‘human shield’ act in West Bank, calls for ‘swift’ investigation by IDF

The United States on Monday described the video of a wounded Palestinian man strapped on a military jeep by Israeli soldiers as ‘shocking’ and called for a ‘swift’ investigation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to hold people accountable.

Israeli army straps Palestinian on military jeep during a raid in West Bank’s Jenin, on June 22, 2024.

“I will say that we saw that video. It was shocking. The practice was absolutely unacceptable. Humans should never be used as shields,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a news briefing, responding to a reporter’s question.

“The IDF should swiftly investigate what happened. They need to hold people accountable,” Miller added.

According to the Israeli military, its troops were fired at and exchanged fire with suspects while carrying out an arrest raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday. During the raid, one of the suspects, Mujahed Azmi, a Palestinian resident of Jenin, was injured and apprehended by the Israeli forces.

“The soldiers then violated military protocol by tying the man to the hood of the jeep. The conduct does not conform to the IDF’s values. The incident will be investigated and dealt with. The injured suspect was transferred to medics for treatment,” an IDF statement read.

Reacting to the statement, Miller, the US State Department spokesperson, mentioned that the IDF’s stand that the people involved will be acted against, is ‘absolutely appropriate.’

“I saw the statement they put out that the actions were inconsistent with the orders that those soldiers received, and that the actions are being investigated, and those involved will be dealt with accordingly. That is absolutely appropriate,” he remarked.

(With Reuters inputs)

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