The Israeli military said Monday it has launched an investigation into a video in which men are heard cheering as a person is shot at what appears to be a Palestinian demonstration in the Gaza Strip.
The video has been widely circulated on social media and comes as the Israeli military faces international calls for an investigation into whether it used unlawful force in recent weeks in dealing with Palestinian protests at the fence dividing Gaza from Israel.
The video appears to be filmed through a pair of binoculars or a scope focused on a group of Palestinians at a fence and men are heard discussing a potential shot. Then, after a shot is heard, the video shows a person collapsing to the ground. In the video, the person doesn’t appear to be armed.
“What a video. Yes. Son of a bitch,” someone says in Hebrew after the shot. “Look, they’re running to evacuate him…What a legendary video.”
It wasn’t immediately clear when or where the unverified video was filmed.
In a statement, the Israeli military said “the event depicted apparently occurred a number of months ago. The incident is being reviewed and will be thoroughly investigated.”
There have been large protests at the fence on a number of occasions in recent months, including two consecutive Friday protests within the past two weeks in which demonstrators died and in December, after the White House announced it would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Palestinian authorities said at least 30 people, including a journalist with a flak jacket marked “Press,” have been killed in demonstrations since March 30 and more than 2,500 injured, with roughly 1,000 from gunfire.
The Israeli military said the army has responded with gunfire and water cannons as Palestinians hurled firebombs at soldiers and attempted to infiltrate Israel.
Israel has said the demonstrations are being used by Hamas, which rules Gaza and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel, as a pretext to attack Israeli soldiers. Israeli officials have said they have had to use live fire to avoid a mass breach of the fence.
Hamas has said demonstrators have a legitimate right to protest. The organizers have said Hamas is involved in running the protests but isn’t leading them.
The person who is shot doesn’t appear to be throwing stones or attempting to breach the fence.
Israeli human rights groups immediately called on the military to conduct a transparent investigation into the incident.
“A very hard video to watch,” tweeted Yehuda Glick, a lawmaker from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party. “Disturbing and disappointing.”
Israelis on social media also began comparing the video to the case of Israeli soldier Elor Azaria, who was convicted of manslaughter last year for shooting dead an unarmed and subdued Palestinian who had attacked another Israeli soldier in the West Bank.
Mr. Azaria’s trial polarized Israelis, with the soldier saying he was acting in self-defense. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, later cut to 14 months, and is due to be released next month after serving roughly nine months.
Gazan demonstrators are calling for the right to return to their ancestors’ villages and towns in what is now Israel, a demand Israeli officials reject because they say it would risk the country’s Jewish majority.
Organizers have said the demonstrations will continue every day until May 15, known among Palestinians as “Nakba Day” or “Day of the Catastrophe,” the day after the date of Israel’s 1948 founding.
Write to Rory Jones at rory.jones@wsj.com
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