Palestinian police allegedly beat, detain IDF reservist at unauthorized West Bank checkpoint
On Wednesday, the military officially amended its statement to clarify that the reservist was in Area C, not in Area B, and that the checkpoint in question was unlawful.
Palestinian police officers set up a checkpoint in Area C of the West Bank, where they were not authorized to operate, and unlawfully arrested a reservist IDF soldier who was traveling in the area on Sunday, military sources confirmed to The Jerusalem Post.
According to a KAN News report, there are two versions of the story regarding the incident. The first version released by the army claimed that the Palestinian police came to the aid of the Israeli who was in Area B and facing immediate danger. This was thought to be the follow-up to a previous report that an armed Israeli was located in the Ein Arik region of Area B.
However, upon further investigation, the army amended its statement to say that the police arrested the reservist on their own initiative, subsequently handing him over to the IDF.
The second version of the story, per KAN, is the testimony of the reservist himself. He claimed that he encountered a Palestinian checkpoint in Area C, where Palestinian police sprayed him with pepper spray and violently arrested him, confiscating his weapon. He was then taken on an approximately 20-minute drive to the outskirts of Ramallah, at which point he was allowed to speak with an Israeli military representative.
Reservist claimed Palestinian police beat him, took his car, glasses
Soon afterward, the IDF took him into custody. Per the KAN report, the reservist claimed that he was beaten, his glasses were taken away, and his vehicle was confiscated by the Palestinian police as well. The IDF later returned the vehicle to him.
Finally, on Wednesday, the military officially amended its statement to clarify that the reservist was in Area C, not in Area B, and that the checkpoint in question was unlawful, aligning the two previously disparate accounts of the event.
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