Israeli soldiers assault AFP team in West Bank

The Israeli military will discipline soldiers who were caught on camera assaulting Agence France-Presse journalists, the army announced Saturday.

A statement released by the Spokesman’s Unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the army has opened an investigation into the incident.

It said that the review is ongoing and lessons from the incident will be learned and disseminated within the IDF.

At the time both journalists were wearing body armour clearly marked “Press”.

It says soldiers pointed weapons at them and punched and threw one of them to the ground. Bernardi suffered bruised ribs and an injury under the eye.

In a similar incident on April 24, the same Palestinian AFP photographer who was manhandled on Friday and his Palestinian colleague had stones thrown at them by Israeli soldiers.

AFP immediately protested to the Israeli military, saying it intends to file an official complaint.

“The IDF is aware of the incident and is investigating”, the army’s Spokesman’s Unit told the Israeli media. Their equipment was also destroyed, causing thousands of dollars in damage. “The Foreign Press Association has raised its concerns with the IDF on multiple occasions but seen no discernible change in behavior”, the FPA said. On Friday, the AFP reporters, Italian Andrea Bernardi and Palestinian photographer Abbas Momani were filming clashes between the IDF and Arab rioters in Beit Furik, at the funeral of Ahmed Khatatbeh, 26. The army said he and another man had thrown a firebomb at a vehicle on a road to the settlement of Itamar.