An officer in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has been suspended after hitting a pro-Palestinian Danish protester in the face with the edge of his M16 rifle.
Lieutenant-Colonel Shalom Eisner was caught on film smashing his weapon in the face of activist Andreas Ias on Saturday during a rally in the West Bank.
The victim was taken to hospital, but did not suffer any major injuries.
Eisner was investigated after after the video was posted online and quickly suspended.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the officer’s actions, saying Eisner’s behaviour had “no place in the IDF or in the state of Israel.”
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However, IDF spokesperson Yoav Mordechai said the film did not show “the whole story”, arguing that previous to the incident the protesters had shown violent behavior towards the soldiers though Mordechai added that even that did not “justify what we see” in the video.
WATCH: Scroll down to watch the video.
WARNING: The video shows graphic violence.