The Israeli military says it is investigating a 20-year-old member of a sniper unit, Mor Ostrovski, who posted a picture on his personal Instagram account of what appears to be a Palestinian youth in rifle crosshairs.
The soldier’s actions “are not in accordance with the spirit of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] or its values,” said a military spokesman. The January 25th photo, which the soldier said he did not take, has been removed from the account.
The Palestinian blogger Ali Abunimah, of the Electronic Intifada website, described the image as “tasteless and dehumanising” and that it “embodies the idea that Palestinian children are targets”.
The incident is one of several recently in which IDF soldiers are accused of degrading Palestinians.
– Agencies/foreign desk