Description

Squad commander was relieved of his duty and sentenced to 20 days in military prison, while another soldier was sentenced to a 28-day detention.


by Gili Cohen for Haaretz

Israeli soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces' Kfir infantry brigade burned a Palestinian flag they found in a vehicle they inspected in the West Bank Wednesday.

The soldiers were checking cars near the Palestinian city of Awarta, south of Nablus, when they found a flag in one of the cars. They removed it and proceeded to burned it.

Both soldiers have been disciplined by the IDF. The squad commander was relieved of his command and sentenced to 20 days in military prison. Another soldier was sentenced to a 28-day detention.

Palestinians reported seeing the soldiers burn the flag after confiscating it from a car that passed through a checkpoint south of Nablus. They informed Palestinian Authority officials of the incident, which in turn voiced a complaint to their Israeli counterparts.
The incident was not documented and the complaints is based on eye witness accounts.

The IDF Spokesman issued a statement saying, "the incident is known to the commanders and was investigated. A preliminary investigation found that the incident was out of the ordinary and that the force acted improperly, and against the instructions of their commanders."