According to the video’s captions, the Israeli soldiers are supposed to protect the children from attacks by Israeli settlers in the area.

But instead, as the video shows, the soldiers lob stones towards the children, including with a slingshot.

The soldiers also failed to come to the designated point to meet the children, according to the video, and “checked one child’s bag and stopped another one without a clear reason.”

Al-Tuwani is a village in the South Hebron Hills area of the occupied West Bank, where thousands of Palestinians living in dozens of small communities are resisting expulsion or the loss of their land from encroaching Israeli settlements.

Settlers from the nearby colony of Havat Maon habitually attack Palestinians.

In one such incident last November, masked, rock-throwing Israelis injured a 6-year-old Palestinian girl in the head.

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has regularly documented settler attacks, including a days-long rampage in Hebron a year ago while Israeli forces looked on and did nothing.

In other cases, Israeli occupation soldiers have been filmed protecting and assisting settlers as they attack Palestinians.

While Israeli soldiers and settlers enjoy near-total impunity for violence against Palestinians, Israel has recently toughened penalties for Palestinians, including children, accused of throwing stones.

Five Palestinian youths from the village of Hares are currently serving 15-year sentences imposed by Israeli military courts on accusations of stone-throwing that they deny. All five were children when they were arrested in 2013.

The video above was published online by Operazione Dove, an international group of peace volunteers that maintains a presence in al-Tuwani.

Note: An earlier version of this post stated that the incident in al-Tuwani occurred on 25 October, based on a caption in the video. However, Operation Dove has since confirmed to The Electronic Intifada that the incident occurred on 27 October and the date in the caption is an error.

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Comments

i was there 7 years ago doing the same thing

Permalink toto che handala replied on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 14:19

i was there 7 years ago walking with the kids from school and we were followed by a station wagon full of fun adults who are illegal squatters wanting to harass kids who were born here like their parents,grandparents,etc going back as far as you can go. So surreal. We instructed as CPT members not to escalate but to do this day i regret,especially after a scared 4 year kid put his hand in mind as we were walking. i should have turned and confronted that car ful of illegals and told them to fuck off...Alas, what it,what could have been will haunt me till the day i die...

Idf throwing stones at school children.

Permalink larrry white replied on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 15:10

The IDF shoots Palestinians , regardless of age for this behaviour.Will they apply this punishment universally --I think not .Will these thugs be held to account --I think not.

Israeli justice on display compliments of the most moral army.

Zionazis destroying Gaza and what's left of the Wst Bank.

Permalink Jim Hyder replied on Mon, 10/31/2016 - 15:40

Every day without fail IDF troops harass, arrest, shake down children, strip search females at check points. Demeanng the people of Palestine seems IDF's only occupation.

Children of Al-Tuwani

Permalink Elizabeth Block replied on Mon, 10/31/2016 - 18:33

I was there in March, with Christian Peacemaker Teams. I had been reading about this for years. But Israeli soldiers actually throwing stones at children? There's a technical term in psychology - it may be displacement - for blaming other people for your own faults.