Soldier who shot a bound Palestinian released

The Israeli National Radio reported on Monday evening that the Israeli Army District Attorney has released the Israeli soldier who shot a bound Palestinian civilian in Ni'lin village near Ramallah in the northern part of the West Bank two weeks ago.

A video showing an Israeli soldier shooting a bound Palestinian in the village of Ni'lin near Ramallah raised uproar among human rights organizations.

The tape, which was released on Sunday by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, shows an Israeli soldier shooting Ashraf Abu Rahme with a rubber coated-steel bullet at short range while his arms were bound almost two weeks ago.

B'Tselem said that other soldiers witnessed the shooting but moved no limb to stop it, and demanded an investigation to be opened into the incident. The shooting took place July 7, during an anti-wall demonstration in the village.

The video shows Abu Rahme being taken to the military jeep by one soldier, while the other points his gun form a very short range at Abu Rahme and shoots him in his left foot. The video was filmed by a Palestinian girl, 14, from a window in her home in the village. B'Tselem has distributed about 100 cameras to Palestinians throughout the West Bank over the last year, as part of their "Shooting Back" project. imemc