Israeli soldier allegedly assaults Haaretz photographer in Hebron

An Israeli photographer on assignment for Haaretz was assaulted by an Israel Defense Forces soldier in Hebron on Saturday. The photographer, Tess Scheflan, suffered light head injuries and was taken by an ambulance to hospital. The IDF issued a response later Saturday, apologizing for the assault and emphasizing its stance that the soldier acted inappropriately, even if it emerges that he struck her after being attacked. The response went on to say that the initial investigation into the incident revealed conflicting versions of the events as recounted by the photographer and the soldiers at the scene. Scheflan, who is a staffer for the Jini photo news agency, had been staying in Hebron over the weekend, alongside Haaretz reporter Fadi Eyadat and another photographer, to cover the Palestinian families whose homes had been temporarily commandeered by IDF soldiers during the forced eviction of settlers from a disputed home in the West Bank city. When they went outside on Saturday, Eyadat recounted, they saw three soldiers. Scheflan took their picture. The soldiers then tried to take away the camera of the second photographer. Scheflan then took a picture of the soldier trying to snatch her associate's camera. The soldier then allegedly punched her in the face and hit her with the butt of his rifle while she was on the ground. Shortly afterward, Scheflan received treatment at the scene from an IDF medic. She was subsequently transferred by ambulance to Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem. According to the IDF, the soldier said that Scheflan had attacked him first and he had only hit her back. The IDF spokesman's office said that an in-depth investigation has been launched, and two senior IDF officials had been dispatched to the hospital "to see how the photographer is doing and to question her personally." The IDF added that the photographer was examined at the scene by a medic but refused to be examined by an IDF doctor, and "refused to be taken in a military ambulance used by settlers, and eventually was taken by a Magen David Adom ambulance." The IDF also said that the soldiers involved in the incident said that the photographer was wearing stickers bearing the emblem of the human rights group B'Tselem. "Violence in Hebron is not something that is unheard of," Scheflan said. "I've been doing this job for years and know how to behave in these situations. But I thought the soldier would at least have explained why we weren't allowed to take photos." The soldier who allegedly assaulted the photographer is an infantryman serving in the Haruv battalion. On Thursday, as IDF forces evacuated the settlers from the disputed house, Haaretz Correspondent Avi Issacharoff was a hit by a stone hurled by a group of masked settlers who surrounded a Palestinian home in the city, setting laundry on fire and pelting it with rocks.