A soldier shot and wounded a masked Jewish stone thrower in the West Bank on Sunday morning, as IDF troops braced for revenge attacks against Palestinians in the aftermath of Saturday's Huwara terrorist attack in which two Israelis were killed.
Soldiers “were dispatched to a point where there were a number of masked suspects, in the area above” the Ma’aleh Levona settlement, the IDF said.
They did not know when they shot at the suspects if they were Israelis or Palestinians. The only thing the soldiers could discern was that they were throwing an object at vehicles on Route 60, likely a stone.
“The troops carried out a procedure for arresting a suspect, as part of which one of the suspects was injured. It later turned out that the suspects were masked Israeli citizens. The incident is being investigated and its details are under review,” the IDF said.
It claimed that the soldier had fired in the direction of the suspect’s legs.
The wounded Israeli was transferred to a hospital, where he was listed in satisfactory condition, the IDF said.
A rare occurrence of IDF troops shooting at Jewish extremists
It is unusual for soldiers to shoot at Jewish extremists carrying out attacks in the West Bank. In most cases the soldiers at the scene distance the extremists and in some cases arrest them.
The shooting comes amid an increase in attacks by Jewish extremists against Palestinians and criticism against the IDF for not taking a tougher stance.