US State Department slams Israel soldier's assault on Palestinian activist Issa Amro 

The US State Department slammed on Thursday a recent assault by an Israeli soldier on the prominent Palestinian rights activist Issa Amro in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. 

In a video posted to Twitter by the New Yorker magazine journalist Lawrence Wright, the Israeli soldier grabs Amro by his jacket and neck and throws him to the ground. He then lands a kick to the activist's backside before being pulled away by another soldier. 

The Israeli army on Monday jailed the soldier for 10 days. 

"We condemn aggression towards civil society & the attack on Issa Amro," the State Department's Office of Palestinian Affairs (OPA) tweeted. 

"We note the [Israeli army] has said it disciplined the soldier involved. 

"Authorities must exercise restraint towards civilians in the West Bank, not resort to disproportionate violence anywhere, including at checkpoints." 

Amro, the founder of the Hebron-based group Youth Against Settlements, said it was "not about the individual human rights activist nor about the individual soldier". 

"This was not an isolated incident, but one of many, due to a system of apartheid and racism, set up to brutalise Palestinians in the occupied territories and subject them to countless [instances of] violence," he told The New Arab in a statement. 

"The whole purpose is to kill our spirit to demand equality and freedom. For this reason, the [OPA's] statement… insufficiently convey[ed] the true events and was not proportional to what actually happened to me and what… the daily suffering of the Palestinian people [is]. 

"We sincerely hope that the State Department works hard to make Israel and the settlers accountable for the dire consequences of its military occupation of and for [its] system of apartheid in the land of Palestine." 

The OPA's tweet comes after State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Wednesday said "anyone who saw that video couldn't walk away unconcerned". 

"We've seen the reports," he added, according to a transcript of a press briefing on the department's website. 

"We've also seen the reports that the [Israeli army] recognised that the soldier involved violated its code of conduct and disciplined him subsequently. 

"When such cases occur, we believe there should be timely and appropriate accountability." 

The incident in Hebron set off an internal Israeli flap, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – one of several hundred hardline Jewish settlers living in the city – voicing full support for the soldier. 

Ben-Gvir called the soldier's sentence – which included a suspension from active combat duties – a "disgrace" and described Amro as an anarchist. 

"I fully support the soldier, who did not remain silent. Soldiers deserve to be backed up, not jailed," Ben-Gvir tweeted. 

Amro – described by Wright, the New Yorker journalist, as a peace activist – accused the minister of trying to get him killed. 

"The soldiers are listening to @itamarbengvir not to their military occupation commanders," tweeted Amro. 

Israeli violence against Palestinians is common. 

There have been almost 50 Palestinians killed so far this year by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

It comes after nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in those territories by Israeli forces in 2022, making it the deadliest year there since 2004, according to leading Israeli rights group B'Tselem. 

Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was among those killed in 2022. She was fatally shot last May while covering a military raid on the Jenin refugee camp. 

Agencies contributed to this story.