JERUSALEM (JTA) — A preliminary investigation by the Israeli military found that an army sniper who in December shot a Palestinian man approaching the Gaza border fence acted appropriately.

In the preliminary findings, which were announced Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said that soldiers heard in a video of the incident cheering the man’s shooting acted inappropriately and will face a disciplinary hearing. Also, the IDF said the soldier who filmed the shooting was not part of the sniper unit serving on the border and would face a disciplinary hearing.

The IDF said the sniper followed protocol, firing one bullet after the Palestinian man ignored warnings and orders to stop. The military also noted that the man was shot in the leg and not the head.

“As for the unapproved filming of an operational incident, distribution of the filmed material and the expressions heard in it, it should be noted that this is not the spirit and the level of restraint expected from IDF soldiers and it will be handled appropriately on a disciplinary level,” read a report on the preliminary investigation, Haaretz reported.

The preliminary results have been turned over over to the Military Advocate General Corps, which will consider criminal charges.

In the video that surfaced over the weekend, which appears to be filmed though a set of binoculars, the soldiers can be heard discussing the shot as the sniper takes aim. The Palestinian man, who was several yards from the border fence and in the video does not appear to be armed, was shot in the head.

Prior to the shot, the sniper’s commander says: “The moment he stops, you drop him. Do you have a bullet in the chamber? Are you [trained] on him?” The shooter replies that there is barbed wire from the security fence blocking his shot. He is then prevented from taking the shot by the presence of a child in the area.

After the man is shot, the person shooting the video is heard saying: “Whoa! What a video! YES! Son of a bitch. What a video! Look they’re running to evacuate him,” he later adds, “What a legendary video.”

Israel’s defense minister, Avigdor Liberman, said Tuesday during an appearance in northern Israel hours before the release of the preliminary results, “The sniper deserves a commendation, the photographer a court martial.”

Of the cheering soldiers, he added: “The truth must be clear. The IDF is the most moral army in the world, but when you’re at the front and facing tense situations, sometimes you let out those tensions.” </s> With international criticism of Israel’s response to the Gaza protests growing, video has emerged appearing to show an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) sniper shooting a Palestinian man standing near the border fence.

After the Palestinian man falls to the ground, soldiers are heard cheering in the background. One yells “What a legendary film!”

The video, which circulated on social media, appears to be through a scope, showing the Gaza border fence and a field behind it.

The sniper is heard discussing the shot with another soldier nearby.

IDF soldiers cheer as you hear the gunshot and see the Palestinian man fall.

A group of Palestinians can be seen in the video running to the fallen man’s side and removing him from the field.

In a response to the video issued Tuesday afternoon, the IDF said in a statement that the video was filmed back on December 22 during what they termed “a violent riot.”

At the time, protests were held in Gaza and the West Bank following US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

“The video depicts a short part of the response to a violent riot, which included rock hurling and attempts to sabotage the security fence, and lasted about two hours. During the riot, means were taken in order to disperse it, including verbal warnings and calls to halt, using riot dispersal means and firing warning shots into the air,” the IDF statement said. “After none of these were successful, a single bullet was fired towards one of the Palestinians who is suspected of organizing and leading this incident, while he was a few meters from the fence. He was hit in the leg and injured. The video was not filmed from the position of the shooting, and was filmed by a soldier who was not part of the unit of the soldiers who fired.”

The IDF also said “relevant commanders” would conduct a full operation inquiry, which will then be submitted to the Military Advocate General’s Office, a legal department that supervises and the rule of law in the military.

The military noted the cheering heard in the video “[does] not suit the degree of restraint expected of IDF soldiers and will be dealt by commanders accordingly.”

The one minute, 20 second video led the news Monday evening on Israeli television channels and featured highly in local newspapers, reigniting a debate about the Israeli army’s principles and its soldiers’ actions.

It was not immediately clear who put out the video. The identity of the Palestinian – and his condition after the shot – are also unknown.

“The sniper deserves a medal, and the photographer deserves a demotion,” said Israeli Defence Minister Israeli Avigdor Liberman, speaking Tuesday afternoon. “The IDF is the most moral army in the world, but there can be no doubt when you are at the front and under a lot of tension and there is a need to unwind your nerves, there are emotions and one can understand it.”

But, condemnation of the video came swiftly and forcefully.

Ahmad Tibi, a politician from the Joint Arab List party in Israel’s Knesset, said on Facebook: “The crime and the evidence. The hunting of humans, and the gratification the sniper derives from the ruthless murder of an unarmed Palestinian civilian in Gaza. A video recorded by a soldier of the Israeli occupation forces who stood next to the sniper. Difficult to watch.”

PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said: “This documented case of extrajudicial killing demands the world to end Israel’s impunity and highlights a further urgency for the International Criminal Court to open an immediate investigation into the war crimes committed by the Israeli occupying power.”

The video appears to contradict the IDF’s claim that it first fires warning shots into the air then aims at protesters’ legs. When the Palestinian man is shot, he is standing still in the field, apparently posing no threat to Israeli soldiers.

As widespread protests along the Gaza border entered a second week last Friday, IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus denied Israel is using excessive force against protesters in Gaza.

“We are using water, tear gas, and other means to try to create a distance between rioters and our security fence. We aim for the lower part of the body, to the feet to make sure those rioters are not able to sabotage the fence or pose a significant threat to our facilities,” he told CNN last week. “We used tear gas and other means to create a distance between those rioters and our sensitive security infrastructure and if those things don’t work, if people don’t listen to our warnings and are hell bent on coming to the fence and sabotaging and trying to break through, we use very specific sharp shooters, snipers at specific persons who are trying to sabotage the fence. We aim for the lower part of the body, to the feet to make sure those rioters are not able to pose a significant threat to our facilities.”

In all, 31 Palestinians have been killed in violence in Gaza since an initial protest was held at the border fence on March 30, according to a CNN count based on the Palestinian Health Ministry figures.

Human rights organizations slammed the Israeli military, claiming the video shows the rule and not the exception.

“Incidents such as the one in the video published today occurred hundreds of times over the past few weeks in the Gaza strip, causing death and injuries – with the full support of policymakers and top military officials,” said Amit Gilutz, a spokesman for B’Tselem, a human rights organization that is regularly critical of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank and its policies towards Palestinians. “The professed shock they now express, as well as their promise to investigate, are just lip service: as before, their ‘thorough investigation’ will once again whitewash the truth.”

Israel’s Minister of Education and leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett, defended the soldier’s actions.

“Seriously do you know what they were doing three minutes before, two minutes before? Maybe they lost a friend a day before. Do you know what the context of the situation was?” he said on Israel Army Radio Tuesday morning. ” I stand behind IDF soldiers. They are guarding us, and we should get back to that a basic understanding which somehow got lost.” </s> A Palestinian who says he was shot by an Israeli sniper along the Gaza border said Wednesday he was posing no threat to soldiers at the time, after a video of the incident went viral.

The footage filmed from the Israeli side of the border fence, which included rejoicing after the shooting, was shared widely online and by the media earlier this week.

It led to further scrutiny of Israel's open-fire rules along the Gaza border.

Israel's defence minister praised the sniper, but criticised the soldier who filmed the incident.

Israel's military alleged that the soldier opened fire after rioting by Palestinians and warnings from soldiers.

Tamer Abu Daqqa, 28, said he recognised himself in the video, which was filmed on December 22 in southern Gaza, particularly due to the red jacket he was wearing.

AFP could not independently verify Abu Daqqa's claim, but separate footage from that day shows him in hospital after being shot in his leg, which is still in plaster four months after the incident.

Abu Daqqa said he had thrown stones at Israeli soldiers over the border during the day, but denied being armed or posing any threat at the time of the gunshot.

"When they shot me I was not throwing stones. I was yelling to friends near the fence to leave and go back to our homes," he told AFP at his home in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The incident took place during protests along the Gaza border sparked by US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which infuriated Palestinians and led to clashes.

The Palestinians consider the eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

In the footage of the incident, voices can be heard discussing opening fire on Palestinians walking on the other side of the border fence.

A soldier then opens fire on one of the Palestinians, knocking the person to the ground.

"Wow. What a video! Yes! That son of a bitch," one of the voices behind the camera exclaims in Hebrew.

Israel's military on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of the video, but alleged the shooting followed riots and warnings from troops.

It said a single bullet was fired toward the Palestinian "suspected of organising and leading this incident while he was a few metres from the fence," wounding him in the leg.

"In the video they say they killed me," said Abu Daqqa. "The sniper failed. I was only injured."

- 'If they were men' -

The video came at a highly sensitive time for Israel's military, which has faced mounting criticism over its use of live fire along the Gaza Strip border, where 31 Palestinians have been killed since late March as mass protests have led to clashes.

Hundreds of others have been wounded. There have been no Israeli casualties. The European Union, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and others have called for an independent investigation into the deaths, which included a journalist.

Israel has rejected the calls, saying its forces have opened fire to stop attempts to damage the fence, infiltrations, bids to carry out attacks and at those seeking to harm soldiers.

It accuses Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of seeking to use the protests as cover for violence.

The Abu Daqqa video, though it dates from several months earlier, led to fresh questions about Israel's rules of engagement.

The Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem said earlier this week that shooting incidents similar to what is seen in the video have "occurred hundreds of times over the past few weeks in the Gaza Strip, causing death and injuries."

Abu Daqqa said the video showed the Israelis were "terrorists".

"In the video they laugh at me and insult me. If they were men they would face me without weapons as I faced them," he said.

"I will continue to demonstrate for our land and our rights even if they injure me in every part of my body." </s> The Israeli army on Tuesday said a soldier who shot a Palestinian suspect near the Gaza border in a recently circulated video behaved appropriately, but criticized the soldier who filmed and cheered the incident for violating military values.

The army said the cameraman, who was not part of the unit serving on the border and was not stationed at the same position, would face a disciplinary hearing. The initial result of the investigation into the video has been handed over to the Military Advocate General Corps, which will consider criminal charges.

According to the army’s initial investigation, the video was filmed on December 22 during a violent demonstration along the Gaza border, near the Israeli community of Kibbutz Kissufim.

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The army said the Palestinian who was shot was one of the people “suspected of organizing and leading” the violence along the border, which included the throwing of rocks and Molotov cocktails.

The military maintained that the sharpshooter behaved appropriately, firing one bullet as the suspect approached the fence after ignoring warnings and calls to halt. The army also refuted a claim heard in the video that the suspect was shot in the head, saying he was wounded in the leg.

The video came to light on Monday, leading Israel’s national television broadcast and prompting a wave of condemnations across the political spectrum, as well as some justification and support for the soldiers featured in it.

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman also expressed his support for the sniper, while criticizing the soldier who filmed the event.

“The sniper deserves an honor and the cameraman a demerit,” he said at an event in northern Israel.

In the footage, the cameraman can be heard cheering as the Palestinian is shot, something the army said “does not fit with the spirit and degree of restraint expected of IDF soldiers.”

The army reportedly debriefed one of the soldiers who featured in the clip.

Though he criticized the video, Liberman also appeared to defend the cheering heard in it, saying it was inappropriate but somewhat understandable for soldiers in stressful situations.

“The IDF is the most moral army in the world, but when you are on the front lines and tense sometimes you let out some tension, so you can understand this,” he added, calling IDF troops “the best of the Israeli people.”

Earlier Tuesday, Education Minister Naftali Bennett defended the soldiers in the video and pushed back at their critics.

“Anyone who was ever in the field knows that to sit in Tel Aviv or in studios and judge the expressions of IDF soldiers guarding the borders isn’t serious,” Bennett, who heads the right-wing Jewish Home party, told Army Radio Tuesday morning.

“We are starting to judge soldiers based on the quality of their speech and whether it sounds nice or not?” he said. “Really?”

Expressing his support for the soldiers, Bennett blasted critics for judging their “inelegant” speech rather than their actions, and noted IDF troops’ role in defending Israel’s borders.

He later tweeted, “IDF soldiers protect our lives. We protect them. [We] don’t abandon soldiers.”

Officials from across the Israeli political spectrum on Monday condemned the video. While most also expressed confidence that the army would investigate the incident, human rights groups claimed dozens of similar shootings have recently taken place. “The IDF is a moral army, but immoral actions may be committed within it,” said MK Nachman Shai of the left-wing Zionist Union party. “This incident and all incidents require an investigation. The battle isn’t just between us and Hamas; it is also for ourselves, for our values and for the identity of Israel society.”

In the video, which was apparently filmed through a scope or binoculars, soldiers can be heard discussing the shot ahead of time, as the sniper trains his rifle on the suspect, who is seen standing next to another Palestinian crouching in front of a roll of barbed wire, several meters away from the security fence.

The Palestinian does not appear to be armed and is not seen throwing rocks or firebombs at the security fence or the Israeli troops on the other side.

“The moment he stops, you drop him. Do you have a bullet in the chamber? Are you [trained] on him?” the commander is heard asking in the footage.

The sharpshooter can then be heard saying he cannot fire because his shot is blocked by the rolls of barbed wire along the security fence.

At one point, the sniper says he is ready to fire, but his commander tells him to wait. “There’s a little kid,” the commander says.

One soldier, apparently the one filming the incident, calls over a friend a moment before the gunshot is heard and the Palestinian is seen crumpling to the ground.

“Whoa! What a video! YES! Son of a bitch. What a video! Look they’re running to evacuate him,” the photographer enthuses.

“Of course I filmed it,” he adds, responding to a question.

Another soldier is then heard saying, “Whoa, [he] hit him in the head.”

As a group of Palestinians can be seen carrying the injured man away, the photographer adds, “What a legendary video.”

Reporting on the video clip, which was the lead item on Israel’s national news broadcasts on Monday evening, TV correspondents said it was not clear whether the Palestinian suspect had been injured or killed.

‘Armchair critics’

Echoing Bennett, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) expressed support on Tuesday for Israeli troops and dismissed the uproar over the video.

“I’m unable to comprehend what isn’t okay in the video. You can’t take a human reaction — no matter how over-the-top — from a battlefield and judge it from the armchairs in Tel Aviv,” he told Israel Radio.

While saying such a video “shouldn’t exist,” Science Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) urged against rushing to judgment over the incident.

“The Palestinian who approached the border didn’t come to ask for peace,” he told Israel Radio.

The focus on the video came just a day after the IDF General Staff announced that it was launching an investigation into the military’s response to a series of violent protests along the Gaza border in recent days, which have so far resulted in the deaths of some 30 Palestinians.

Border incidents in the past two weeks have included two massive demonstrations in which tens of thousands of Palestinians took part.

The protests were part of a planned six-week “March of Return” that is due to end in mid-May with both “Nakba Day,” marking the displacement of Arabs after Israel’s creation, and the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — a plan that has infuriated Palestinian leaders.

Palestinian activists have insisted the protests were civilian-led and nonviolent, while Israel has said they were often used as cover for attempts at violence against Israeli troops and breaches of the border. The IDF says the marches are a new tactic by Hamas, which rules Gaza, to conduct terror operations in the confusion of the demonstrations.

The army said that it had spotted multiple attempts by terrorists to plant explosive devices along the Gaza border, a shooting attack on IDF troops by two well-armed Palestinian men dispatched by Hamas, as well as an attempted infiltration by a gunman wearing a suicide bomb vest. Hamas, a terror group that seeks to destroy Israel, has acknowledged several of its operatives were among the Palestinian dead. Hamas leaders have said the ultimate goal of the protests is to erase the border and liberate Palestine. </s> JERUSALEM (AP) - The Latest on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (all times local):

Israel's defense minister says a Gaza journalist who was killed by Israeli gunfire over the weekend was a Hamas militant.

Yasser Murtaja was shot Friday while covering a mass demonstration near the Israeli border. He was carrying a video camera and wearing a flak jacket marked with the word "press" when he was shot.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters on Tuesday that Murtaja had been on the Hamas payroll since 2011 and held a rank similar to captain. He said Murtaja had used a drone to collect intelligence on Israeli forces along the border.

He provided no evidence to support the claim.

Lieberman accused Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, of using the media, as well as ambulances and medical patients, as cover to carry out attacks.

Israel's military says soldiers heard in video footage cheering as a Palestinian is shot during Gaza border clashes will be disciplined.

It said Tuesday an initial probe shows the video was taken in December during "violent riots."

The footage emerged Monday appearing to show a soldier shooting a Palestinian near the Gaza fence as other soldiers are heard cheering when he falls. The military said the man was a main instigator in the clashes and was shot in the leg and wounded.

It said the troops' behavior does not reflect the army's values and they will be dealt with "accordingly," without elaborating.

The Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza is currently leading a campaign of mass protests at the border and 26 Palestinians have been killed since it began two weeks ago. </s> Israel's military on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of a video that shows soldiers celebrate after shooting a protester on the other side of the Gaza border.

A number of Israeli ministers, including defense chief Avigdor Lieberman, defended the soldiers in the video, while the military said the Palestinian had been shot in the leg and wounded. It was not clear whether the victim had died.

Read more: Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman defends use of force against Gaza protests

The military also alleged that the incident took place last December following riots and warnings from troops. "During the riot, means were taken in order to disperse it, including verbal warnings and calls to halt, using riot dispersal means and firing warning shots into the air," the army said in a statement.

In the video, which surfaced on Monday, voices can be heard discussing whether to open fire at a Palestinian standing close to a fence. After the shooter opens fire, knocking the man to the ground, one of the voices says in Hebrew, "Wow. What a video! Yes! That son of a bitch."

The video's release comes at a highly sensitive time for Israel's military, which is under increasing international scrutiny for its use of live fire on the Gaza border. At least 31 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded following the outbreak of protests and clashes at the border since March 30.

Saeb Erekat, a top official with the Palestinian Authority, has described the shootings as "extrajudicial killings."

There have been no critical Israeli casualties.

After the authenticity of the video was confirmed, Lieberman told reporters that the sniper "deserves a medal" for shooting the Palestinian, but that the solider who recorded the incident should be demoted.

The military said the unauthorized filming and distribution of the material would be dealt with accordingly.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the far-right Jewish Home party also justified the shooter's behavior, telling army radio: "Judging soldiers because they are not expressing themselves elegantly while they are defending our borders is not serious."

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan downplayed the significance of the video, telling local media that the video "doesn't show gunfire at everyone, but at a terrorist who approaches the barrier in an unauthorized zone coming from an area controlled by Hamas terrorists."

On the Palestinian side, however, senior official Hanan Ashrawi said the video showed what Palestinians have long decried as Israeli soldiers' everyday behavior on the Gaza border, "but nobody has been listening."

For both sides of the conflict, the incident presented a stark reminder of a 2016 video filmed by a human rights group that showed an Israeli soldier shooting a prone Palestinian assailant in the head without any apparent provocation.

The Israeli soldier, Elor Azaria, was convicted of manslaughter but the case highlighted Israel's public divide between those who denounced the killing and those who believed it was justified.

Read more: What it means to be a soldier in Israel

Several right-wing Israeli politicians called for Azaria to be pardoned, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was eventually released after serving half of an 18-month prison sentence.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> The Latest on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (all times local):

Israel's defense minister says a Gaza journalist who was killed by Israeli gunfire over the weekend was a Hamas militant.

Yasser Murtaja was shot Friday while covering a mass demonstration near the Israeli border. He was carrying a video camera and wearing a flak jacket marked with the word "press" when he was shot.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters on Tuesday that Murtaja had been on the Hamas payroll since 2011 and held a rank similar to captain. He said Murtaja had used a drone to collect intelligence on Israeli forces along the border.

He provided no evidence to support the claim.

Lieberman accused Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, of using the media, as well as ambulances and medical patients, as cover to carry out attacks.

Israel's military says soldiers heard in video footage cheering as a Palestinian is shot during Gaza border clashes will be disciplined.

It said Tuesday an initial probe shows the video was taken in December during "violent riots."

The footage emerged Monday appearing to show a soldier shooting a Palestinian near the Gaza fence as other soldiers are heard cheering when he falls. The military said the man was a main instigator in the clashes and was shot in the leg and wounded.

It said the troops' behavior does not reflect the army's values and they will be dealt with "accordingly," without elaborating.

The Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza is currently leading a campaign of mass protests at the border and 26 Palestinians have been killed since it began two weeks ago. </s> Jerusalem (CNN) With international criticism of Israel's response to the Gaza protests growing, video emerged on Monday appearing to show an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) sniper shooting a Palestinian man standing near the border fence.

After the Palestinian man falls to the ground, soldiers are heard cheering in the background. One yells, "What a legendary film!"

The video, which circulated on social media, appears to be through a scope, showing the Gaza border fence and a field behind it.

The sniper is heard discussing the shot with another soldier nearby.

"When he stops, you take him down," the soldier says. "Are you on him?"

"I can't fire because of the barbed wire," the sniper responds a short time later.

"Take out the one in the pink," the other soldier says after a few moments.

IDF soldiers cheer as you hear the gunshot and see the Palestinian man fall.

"Son of a bitch!" one soldier, who appears to have recorded the video, yells. "What a legendary film! I haven't seen this kind of thing for a long time."

A group of Palestinians can be seen in the video running to the fallen man's side and removing him from the field.

In a response to the video issued Tuesday afternoon, the IDF said in a statement that the video was filmed on Friday, December 22, 2017 during what they termed "a violent riot."

At the time, protests were held in Gaza and the West Bank following US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

"The video depicts a short part of the response to a violent riot, which included rock hurling and attempts to sabotage the security fence, and lasted about two hours. During the riot, means were taken in order to disperse it, including verbal warnings and calls to halt, using riot dispersal means and firing warning shots into the air," the IDF statement said.

"After none of these were successful, a single bullet was fired towards one of the Palestinians who is suspected of organizing and leading this incident, while he was a few meters from the fence. He was hit in the leg and injured. The video was not filmed from the position of the shooting, and was filmed by a soldier who was not part of the unit of the soldiers who fired."

The IDF also said "relevant commanders" would conduct a full operation inquiry, which will then be submitted to the Military Advocate General's Office, a legal department that supervises and the rule of law in the military.

The military noted that the cheering heard in the video "[does] not suit the degree of restraint expected of IDF soldiers and will be dealt by commanders accordingly."

The one minute, 20 second video led the news Monday evening on Israeli television channels and featured highly in local newspapers, reigniting a debate about the Israeli army's principles and its soldiers' actions.

It was not immediately clear who put out the video. The identity of the Palestinian -- and his condition after the shot -- are also unknown.

"The sniper deserves a medal, and the photographer deserves a demotion," said Israeli Defence Minister Israeli Avigdor Liberman, speaking Tuesday afternoon.

"The IDF is the most moral army in the world, but there can be no doubt when you are at the front and under a lot of tension and there is a need to unwind your nerves, there are emotions and one can understand it."

But condemnation of the video came swiftly and forcefully.

Ahmad Tibi, a politician from the Joint Arab List party in Israel's Knesset, said on Facebook: "The crime and the evidence. The hunting of humans, and the gratification the sniper derives from the ruthless murder of an unarmed Palestinian civilian in Gaza. A video recorded by a soldier of the Israeli occupation forces who stood next to the sniper. Difficult to watch."

PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said: "This documented case of extrajudicial killing demands the world to end Israel's impunity and highlights a further urgency for the International Criminal Court to open an immediate investigation into the war crimes committed by the Israeli occupying power."

The video appears to contradict the IDF's claim that it first fires warning shots into the air, then aims at protestors' legs. When the Palestinian man is shot, he is standing still in the field, apparently posing no threat to Israeli soldiers.

As widespread protests along the Gaza border entered a second week last Friday, IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus denied Israel is using excessive force against protesters in Gaza.

He told CNN last week: "We are using water, tear gas, and other means to try to create a distance between rioters and our security fence. We use lethal means very sparingly and only against specific people who pose a real threat toward our security infrastructure.

"We used tear gas and other means to create a distance between those rioters and our sensitive security infrastructure and if those things don't work, if people don't listen to our warnings and are hell bent on coming to the fence and sabotaging and trying to break through, we use very specific sharp shooters, snipers at specific persons who are trying to sabotage the fence. We aim for the lower part of the body. To the feet to make sure those rioters are not able to sabotage the fence or pose."

In all, 31 Palestinians have been killed in violence in Gaza since an initial protest was held at the border fence on March 30, according to a CNN count based on the Palestinian Health Ministry figures.

Human rights organizations slammed the Israeli military, claiming the video shows the rule and not the exception.

"Incidents such as the one in the video published today occurred hundreds of times over the past few weeks in the Gaza strip, causing death and injuries - with the full support of policymakers and top military officials," said Amit Gilutz, a spokesman for B'Tselem, a human rights organization that is regularly critical of Israel's military occupation of the West Bank and its policies towards Palestinians.

"The professed shock they now express, as well as their promise to investigate, are just lip service: as before, their 'thorough investigation' will once again whitewash the truth," he said.

Israel's Minister of Education and leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett, defended the soldier's actions.

"Seriously do you know what they were doing three minutes before, two minutes before?" he said on Israel Army Radio Tuesday morning.

"Maybe they lost a friend a day before. Do you know what the context of the situation was?"

"I stand behind IDF soldiers. They are guarding us, and we should get back to that a basic understanding which somehow got lost." </s> Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - A Palestinian who says he was shot by an Israeli sniper along the Gaza border said Wednesday he was posing no threat to soldiers at the time, after a video of the incident went viral.

The footage filmed from the Israeli side of the border fence, which included rejoicing after the shooting, was shared widely online and by the media earlier this week.

It led to further scrutiny of Israel's open-fire rules along the Gaza border.

Israel's defence minister praised the sniper, but criticised the soldier who filmed the incident.

Israel's military alleged that the soldier opened fire after rioting by Palestinians and warnings from soldiers.

Tamer Abu Daqqa, 28, said he recognised himself in the video, which was filmed on December 22 in southern Gaza, particularly due to the red jacket he was wearing.

AFP could not independently verify Abu Daqqa's claim, but separate footage from that day shows him in hospital after being shot in his leg, which is still in plaster four months after the incident.

Abu Daqqa said he had thrown stones at Israeli soldiers over the border during the day, but denied being armed or posing any threat at the time of the gunshot.

"When they shot me I was not throwing stones. I was yelling to friends near the fence to leave and go back to our homes," he told AFP at his home in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The incident took place during protests along the Gaza border sparked by US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which infuriated Palestinians and led to clashes.

The Palestinians consider the eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

In the footage of the incident, voices can be heard discussing opening fire on Palestinians walking on the other side of the border fence.

A soldier then opens fire on one of the Palestinians, knocking the person to the ground.

"Wow. What a video! Yes! That son of a bitch," one of the voices behind the camera exclaims in Hebrew.

Israel's military on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of the video, but alleged the shooting followed riots and warnings from troops.

It said a single bullet was fired toward the Palestinian "suspected of organising and leading this incident while he was a few metres from the fence," wounding him in the leg.

"In the video they say they killed me," said Abu Daqqa. "The sniper failed. I was only injured."

- 'If they were men' -

The video came at a highly sensitive time for Israel's military, which has faced mounting criticism over its use of live fire along the Gaza Strip border, where 31 Palestinians have been killed since late March as mass protests have led to clashes.

Hundreds of others have been wounded. There have been no Israeli casualties. The European Union, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and others have called for an independent investigation into the deaths, which included a journalist.

Israel has rejected the calls, saying its forces have opened fire to stop attempts to damage the fence, infiltrations, bids to carry out attacks and at those seeking to harm soldiers.

It accuses Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of seeking to use the protests as cover for violence.

The Abu Daqqa video, though it dates from several months earlier, led to fresh questions about Israel's rules of engagement.

The Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem said earlier this week that shooting incidents similar to what is seen in the video have "occurred hundreds of times over the past few weeks in the Gaza Strip, causing death and injuries."

Abu Daqqa said the video showed the Israelis were "terrorists".

"In the video they laugh at me and insult me. If they were men they would face me without weapons as I faced them," he said.

"I will continue to demonstrate for our land and our rights even if they injure me in every part of my body." </s> JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli military said on Monday that it was investigating a video that appears to show an Israeli army sniper shooting a motionless Palestinian across the border in Gaza, to whoops of excitement from the onlooker.

Israeli television channels broadcast the clip at the start of their primetime evening news bulletins - with one host describing it as "disturbing" - after it circulated widely on social networks.

 Its release comes after more than a week of daily protests by Palestinians at the Gaza-Israel border in which 30 Gazans have been shot dead.

 However, the Israeli military said that the clip might have been filmed months ago.

 The amateur-style video focuses through a lens or viewfinder on a person in the distance, beyond a wire fence, standing still and alone. A gun fires and the person falls to the ground.

 "Wow, what a video. Yes! Son of a bitch! What a video. Here, run to evacuate him," a voice says in Hebrew as people are seen running toward the person.

 In a tweeted statement, the military said: "With regard to the video of the soldiers at the Gaza Strip border - it was probably an event that occurred a number of months ago. The event will be investigated and examined thoroughly."

 Reuters was been unable to verify the source of the video, or its authenticity. 

 Ayman Odeh, a senior lawmaker from Israel's Arab minority, said it was "a clip that terrifies the soul, rejoicing over the taking of a life and what appears to be the execution of someone who endangered no one". He called for the shooter to be put on trial.

 The Israeli military has stationed sharpshooters to enforce a no-go zone near the border fence and stop Palestinian attempts to breach the border during a protest that has been called “The Great March of Return”.

 The protesters are reviving a long-standing demand for the right of return of Palestinian refugees to towns and villages from which their families fled, or were driven out, when the state of Israel was created.

 Protest camps have sprung up a few hundred meters inside the fence. But large groups of youths have ventured considerably nearer, burning tires and hurling stones.

 Israel says it has been warning Gazans for weeks not to approach the border fence, and accuses Hamas, the armed Islamist group that controls Gaza, of instigating the protests.

 Israeli officials have declined to specify exact distances that Palestinians must maintain from the fence.

 Maps of Gaza from recent years by United Nations humanitarian agencies indicate a “no-go zone” of up to 100 meters from the barrier, with limited access for farmers in some areas from 100-300 meters. 

 

 (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Stephen Farrell; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Israel launches an investigation into a video appearing to show soldiers cheering as a Palestinian man is shot by an Israeli sniper through the Gazan border fence.