Palestinian man assaulted by police officer as incident caught on camera

A Palestinian man was attacked by a police officer on Tuesday night after seemingly reporting another incident of police brutality that occurred against him earlier the same night.

The incident was caught on video and has been circulating on social media, among a set of disturbances that took place in Damascus gate late Tuesday night. 

According to an eyewitness who was at the scene, “a quarrel developed between Jews and Palestinians, during which the policeman approached the young man, spoke to him calmly, and then suddenly hit him in both knees.”

Israel’s Department of Police Investigations has opened an investigation into the incident. They released a statement about the incident.

“In recent days and last night, a number of lawbreakers arrived in the Damascus Gate area and began rioting, which included throwing stones at police forces, resulting in a police officer getting injured,” the Department of Police’s statement read. “Due to their involvement in the incidents of public disorder, a dispersal order was issued, after which the police acted to repel those who did not obey this order, including the person who appears in the documentation. The case described will be examined and treated accordingly.”

The incident began when Palestinian rioters began throwing stones, lighting fires, and attacking Jewish passersby. The arrival of Jews with Israeli flags at the scene, which the young Palestinian claimed was intended to provoke them, escalated tensions until police finally arrived.

The concerning rise of violence in Jerusalem culminated in the recent clashes at Damascus Gate, which sits right beside east Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah, which was at the forefront of last May’s political and military confrontations. Various skirmishes and confrontations have continued to ravage Jerusalem since last May’s military operation.