Group: Soldier shot bound Palestinian with rubber bullet

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Video shows an Israeli soldier firing a rubber bullet at a handcuffed, blindfolded Palestinian man this month in the West Bank, an Israeli human rights group said Sunday.

Israel's military said it is investigating the July 7 incident, which, according to the military and the rights group, left the Palestinian with a wounded toe.

The video shows Ashraf Abu Rahma, 27, being held at the arm by an Israeli soldier while another soldier points a gun at Abu Rahma's legs from close range, according to human rights group B'Tselem. The group said Abu Rahma was detained after protesting in Nil'in, a West Bank village near Ramallah.

The soldier pointing the gun fires, and Abu Rahma flinches, but it's unclear from the video where the man was shot.

Both the Israel Defense Forces and B'Tselem said Abu Rahma was wounded in a toe and was treated by an IDF doctor before being sent home.

"The injury was sustained when an IDF soldier fired an anti-riot weapon in close proximity to the detained Palestinian man, who had been arrested for taking part in a violent riot near the village of Nil'in," IDF said in a statement Sunday.

B'Tselem said a 14-year-old Palestinian girl from Nil'in recorded the incident from her house. B'Tselem published the video on the Internet on Sunday and showed it to the Israeli military.

Brig. Gen. Avichia Mendelbilt ordered a military police investigation into the incident upon receiving the footage, the IDF's statement said.

"This was a serious incident in stark violation of the IDF's rules of conduct and safety," the statement said.

However, IDF spokeswoman Avital Leibovitch stressed that the military questions the credibility of the video. The footage stops right after the gunfire is heard and picks up again with Abu Rahma laying on the ground.

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