Israeli army officer suspended from duty for soldiers' assault on journalists

An officer of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was suspended from duty after soldiers of his unit assaulted two journalists working for Agence France-Presse in the West Bank Friday, the IDF said early Sunday morning in a statement.

"The preliminary review of the occurrences in Beit Furik revealed that the officer in charge did not conduct himself in accordance to professional expectations," said the statement, referring to the village where the incident happened.

"Following the review, the commander was suspended from operational duty," the statement said, adding that the IDF considers the incident "grave and in contravention of its code of ethics and professional standards."

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

The Foreign Press Association said Saturday that an AFP cameraman and photographer were harassed and beaten by IDF soldiers "in an unprovoked attack" when they were covering a protest near the West Bank city of Nablus Friday.

The association said that the IDF soldiers pointed their weapons at the two journalists, threw one to the ground, punched him in the ribs and held him pinned to the floor with a knee in the chest.

Both had to be treated in hospital and their equipment were also destroyed, causing several thousand euros of damage.

The incident at the village of Beit Furik was caught on camera by a crew with Palmedia, a Palestinian production company, and posted online.

The footage showed that IDF soldiers smashed two cameras, seized a photo camera, and violently prevented one journalist from retrieving his damaged camera at the site. Endit