Israeli Press
Haaretz reports soldiers wrote numbers on detained Palestinians' foreheads in Qabatiya
Graphic: Times of Palestine
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Israeli soldiers marked numbers on the foreheads and bodies of Palestinians they rounded up in Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Wednesday, and the army answered the exposure by saying commanders had "clarified the gravity of the act" to the troops.
Haaretz correspondent Jack Khoury reported that forces from the Menashe brigade and the Duvdevan unit, working with the Shin Bet, spent a day in the town, searched about a hundred buildings, and announced two arrests over alleged attack planning. Residents counted far more people taken, and said some detainees were beaten.
Ahmad al-Hatnawi, released after the raid, told Radio a-Shams that soldiers wrote the number 44 on his arm and his forehead before a two-hour interrogation in which an officer spoke to him in what he called a threatening style.
It was for humiliation, as if we were animals and beasts.
Ahmad al-Hatnawi of Qabatiya, to Radio a-Shams, quoted by Haaretz
Knesset member Ahmad Tibi published a recording of a numbered detainee and called the practice shocking and disgusting. Haaretz noted this is not the first such case: soldiers have written numbers on Palestinians' bodies during West Bank raids in recent months, with the army explaining some as organizing and identification.
The forces also handed Qabatiya's residents leaflets warning that any step the army reads as crossing "red lines" will draw a firm response.
