An Israeli policewoman is suspected of shooting an unarmed Palestinian \u201cfor fun\u201d while on duty near a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n The 20-year-old policewoman was arrested yesterday and appeared before Jerusalem Magistrate\u2019s Court in a bail hearing. The court heard that the policewoman allegedly shot an unarmed Palestinian in the back with a sponge-tipped bullet \u201cwithout any operational reason\u201d, leaving him seriously wounded. The court\u2019s judge, Elad Persky, said the policewoman seemed to have shot the Palestinian \u201cas a dubious form of entertainment\u201d, before ordering that she be held for another three days.<\/span><\/p>\n The attack is believed to have occurred in May, while the policewoman was on duty near the Al-Za\u2019im checkpoint, situated near the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma\u2019ale Adumim in the occupied West Bank. However, Israel\u2019s Justice Ministry only learned of the incident recently \u201cwhile investigating another case in which members of the Border Police allegedly beat a Palestinian for no reason\u201d, Haaretz<\/em><\/a> <\/strong><\/span>reported.<\/span><\/p>\n The 20-year-old is now being \u201cquestioned on suspicion of assault and battery, [as well as] obstructing justice, since she allegedly told her friend\u2014an IDF soldier who knew about the investigation and was summoned by the Police Investigation Unit to testify\u2014she did not know anything about the incident,\u201d according to Ynet<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Four other members of Israel\u2019s Border Police \u2013 who are believed to have witnessed and filmed the shooting \u2013 were arrested alongside the woman in question. The four were released \u201cwith restrictions\u201d, Haaretz<\/em> added.<\/span><\/p>\n The policewoman\u2019s attorney, Itzik Cohen, denied the charges against his client, saying: \u201cThe policewoman categorically denies that she fired a sponge-tipped bullet at the Palestinian man. Needless to say that the defendant\u2019s face does not appear in the video obtained by the Police Investigation Unit, and nor does her voice\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The policewoman\u2019s actions resemble those of Elor Azaria<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, the Israeli occupation force soldier who shot and killed a motionless Palestinian in Hebron in 2016. Azaria was\u00a0<\/strong>convicted<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0of manslaughter in January 2017 and handed<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0an 18-month prison sentence. In September, Israel\u2019s military chief of staff\u00a0cut<\/a> Azaria\u2019s jail term by four months and by March 2018 it had emerged that Azaria would be\u00a0released<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0early for \u201cgood behaviour\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n When Azaria was released<\/a><\/strong><\/span> in May, having served just nine months of his sentence, he\u00a0received<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0a hero\u2019s welcome. He quickly gave an interview to the Israeli press in which he boasted<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of having \u201cno remorse whatsoever\u201d for his actions, adding that he had \u201cacted in full accordance with what [he] was trained to do\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Israeli violence against Palestinians while on duty is commonplace. According to Human Rights Watch\u2019s (HRW) 2017 report<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, \u201cIsraeli security forces fatally shot 42 Palestinians and wounded at least 3,279, including passersby, demonstrators and those suspected of attacking Israelis\u201d. HRW adds that: \u201cIn many cases, video footage and witness accounts strongly suggest that [Israeli] forces used excessive force\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n