On November 26 and 30, lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili published two videos on Facebook (1, 2), claiming that Jewish soldiers arrested a 2-year-old child. In the videos, which depict the same event, a few seconds apart, two Israeli soldiers are seen restraining a young child. Later, a man enters the shot, trying to take the child away but the soldiers do not allow him; Finally, a 10-year-old takes the child away from the adults by force and the soldiers no longer prevent him from doing so.
The claim voiced in the post is manipulative. The Jewish soldiers actually “detained” the young child for a few seconds; however, according to the officers, this happened only because he was provoking them on the orders of the elders.
The circulated video depicts an incident that took place in 2018 when Israeli officers in Hebron “detained” a 3-year-old Palestinian boy for about a minute. According to the officers, the child came to them on the instructions of the elders, first to throw stones, and then armed with a screwdriver and a peeler, to organize a provocation. Along with the spread of the information, the recording of the surveillance cameras, which recorded the event, was published. In the video, the child is seen throwing stones from a distance in the direction of the Israeli soldiers, in response to which one of them begins to slowly move towards the child, causing the child to run and go beyond the coverage area of the camera.
After an unknown period of time, the child reappears in the frame and starts running in the direction of the officers. After approaching them, the officer catches him, as a result of which the people nearby (probably Palestinians) approach the soldiers and it is one of them who takes the video that Zakareishvili distributed.
Israeli media Haaretz spoke to an eyewitness who said that an Israeli officer verbally abused the minor and his mother, causing the angry child to take a vegetable peeler from the house and head towards them.
According to the Israeli Border Police, Palestinians often resort to such provocations, including the use of small children. Sometimes minors are even equipped with explosive belts, which is why officers show special attention in all situations. Because in this particular case, the child was holding a screwdriver, they detained him until the father came to them and gave an explanation, after which the child was released.
About the Source
Lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili often publishes posts with anti-Western, anti-Ukrainian, and anti-opposition content. Since the emergence of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, the user has been spreading disinformation regularly. False information spread by Zakareishvili has been debunked by “Myth Detector” many times in the past.
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