Claim
Israeli military said it was investigating footage that appeared to show a soldier beating a Palestinian alongside settlers during a Hebron-area incident, in which settlers allegedly attacked residents near a mosque while under army protection
Attributed to Israeli military
Evidence
This claim closely matches actual reporting by The Times of Israel, whose headline article states IDF was 'probing' a video appearing to show a soldier beating a Palestinian alongside settlers in the West Bank village of Idna, near Hebron, following a 'confrontation' between Israelis and Palestinians. Times of Israel and JPost reported the IDF said it would investigate the footage, which showed the soldier alongside two Israeli civilians/settlers hitting a Palestinian man. Times of Israel's home-page teaser text separately describes 'footage emerges from Hebron-area incident in which settlers allegedly attacked locals near mosque under army protection,' attributing the mosque detail to the official Palestinian news agency (WAFA), which reported settlers assaulted locals near a mosque and fired shots in the air while allegedly protected by Israeli troops. +972 Magazine also covered a related Hebron video of a soldier being drawn into a scuffle involving settlers and a Palestinian. I did not find a Reuters, AFP, Bellingcat, or EUvsDisinfo fact-check specifically adjudicating this claim's authenticity — the underlying reporting itself is from mainstream Israeli and Palestinian-linked outlets, not disinformation debunkers.
Supporting sources
- The Times of Israel - IDF probes video appearing to show soldier beating Palestinian alongside settlers
- The Jerusalem Post - IDF soldier filmed hitting Palestinian in West Bank, military says it will investigate
- The Times of Israel - liveblog entry, IDF probing footage showing soldier beating Palestinian in West Bank
- +972 Magazine - In Hebron, protecting Palestinians is not an Israeli soldier's job
- The Times of Israel - West Bank topic page (teaser referencing Hebron-area mosque incident)
Assessment
Multiple contemporaneous outlets (Times of Israel, JPost) corroborate that the IDF said it was investigating video footage of a soldier beating a Palestinian alongside settlers in a Hebron-area West Bank incident, and Times of Israel's coverage attributes the mosque/army-protection detail to Palestinian news agency WAFA, but no independent fact-checking organization has separately verified or adjudicated this specific claim.
Confidence
Some independent corroboration was found, but it isn't yet conclusive.
Timeline
Aug 9, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
LikelyInitial assessment.
First observed Aug 9, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC · Last reviewed Aug 9, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC