Israeli settlers appear to have been caught on camera firing shots at Palestinians in the West Bank while soldiers stood by, in an incident that army forces investigating.
Footage taken from two angles on Saturday by volunteers from Israeli human rights group B'etslem appears to show armed and masked settlers from a nearby town enter Asira al-Qibliya, while soldiers from the Israeli Defence Force stand by.
The footage depicts shots being fired and stones thrown by the settlers while fires rage in the background. The army and police stand by during the fracas but do not intervene.
Warning: some viewers may find the following footage disturbing.
Sarit Michaeli, a spokesperson for B'etslem told The Huffington Post UK: "Asira al-Qibliya is a classic high friction area, the villagers are constantly harassed, attacked, by settlers."
She accused the army of failing in their duty to protect Palestinians.
"It's unusual to have such clear footage," she said. "It's not unusual for us to see footage of these events. The army is obligated to provide protection for Palestinians."
B'etslem said in a statement: "The video footage raises grave suspicions that the soldiers present did not act to prevent the settlers from throwing stones and firing live ammunition at the Palestinians. The soldiers did not try to remove the settlers and in fact are seen standing by settlers while they are shooting and stone throwing."
The organisation has written to the military police investigation unit to ask them to look into the claims. They have also asked police to investigate whether one of the settlers was a soldier on leave.
The IDF confirmed in a statement it was investigating the incident but said the videos may not be representative.
“On Saturday evening, residents of Yitzhar and the residents of the El Kabalia hurled rocks at each other during a violent confrontation.
"Upon receiving the report, security forces proceeded to the area in order to separate the parties without casualties, using different riot dispersal means.
"During the confrontation live fire was used; the incident is currently being investigated by the division commander. That said, it appears that the video in question does not reflect the incident in its entirety."