The Israeli military has suspended the
officer in charge during an incident in the West Bank that saw soldiers
assault two AFP journalists, take their equipment and destroy it, the
army said.
“The officer in charge of the operations
on the ground has been suspended from operational duty until further
notice,” Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said of the incident on Friday.
Lerner said the move was an immediate
step “pending further disciplinary measures” against the officer or
other soldiers and that investigations were continuing.
He added that the Israeli military considered it a “grave” incident.
“Lessons from the incident will be learnt and disseminated within the (Israeli army),” Lerner told AFP late on Saturday.
The two AFP journalists, Italian Andrea
Bernardi and Palestinian Abbas Momani, were covering clashes between
Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in Beit Furik near Nablus following a
funeral when they were assaulted by soldiers.
Bernardi is a video journalist and Momani is a photographer.
The soldiers pointed their weapons at
them and shoved them. Bernardi was thrown to the ground, with a knee
pressed against his chest until he was able to show his press card.
They were identifiable as journalists not
only by their equipment but also by their body armour clearly marked
“Press”. They had been previously authorised to enter the area.
The soldiers smashed a video camera and a stills camera, while also taking away another stills camera and a mobile phone.
The incident was filmed and posted online by a local production company.
On Friday evening, the army told AFP that
it had identified those involved and that disciplinary measures would
be taken. It also said it had recovered equipment.
Severely damaged equipment was returned to AFP on Saturday, though without the memory cards that had been inside.
AFP as well as the Foreign Press Association in Israel and the Palestinian Territories have strongly condemned the assault.
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