Injured youth being given first aid; Photo courtesy of the photographer
Wednesday, July 30, 2025, 18:21 Honenu Director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad warns: “Shooting at Jewish children and youths by the security forces has become routine. We must stop this phenomenon before a disaster occurs.”
Over the past few hours, Honenu has received eyewitness testimonies from the scene of a shooting near Givat Asaf, a small community near Beit El in the Binyamin region. A border police officer opened fire at, and seriously injured a 17-year-old Jewish youth. The testimonies reveal new details from the incident that paint an extremely disturbing picture of the officer’s conduct.
According to the testimonies, three youths were standing on the side of the road, apparently wearing masks, with one of them also wearing tzitzit over his clothes, clearly indicating that he was Jewish. A border police officer coming from Beit El noticed the youths and stopped his vehicle. The youths called out to him several times in Hebrew to go on and motioned him to continue driving.
In response, the officer got out of his vehicle, and the youths ran off. The officer then opened fire at the fleeing youths, discharging at least four rounds (see video below), hitting one of them in the back. A second youth then ran to Givat Asaf to summon assistance, while the third youth bent over the injured youth and started to provide first aid.
At this stage, according to the testimonies, the officer jumped onto a mound of dirt and opened fire again on the injured youth and the other youth, who shouted, “Injured Jew, injured Jew!” The youth claims that the officer continued shooting. Contrary to the border police spokesperson’s claims, according to the testimonies, at no time did the youths throw rocks at the officer or confront him.
Two local residents on their way to Beit El who noticed the incident said that they also saw the officer standing on the mound and shooting. They added that after he opened fire, he advanced a distance of approximately 50 meters to where the injured youth was, stood over him, and continued to aim his weapon at him even though it must have been obvious to him that the youth was a Jew because he was wearing a kippa and tzitzit and had payot. The passers-by immediately reported the incident to MDA and continued to provide the injured youth with first aid until an ambulance arrived.
Honenu Director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad warned of tragic consequences if the shootings on Yehuda and Shomron residents were not stopped: “We are a step away from a tragedy. Only by a miracle are we not at the funeral of a Jewish youth right now,” said Meidad. “Over the past two months, several Jewish youths have become permanently disabled as a result of the injuries they have suffered at the hands of the Israeli security forces.
“In recent months, we have experienced an alarming wave of shootings by the security forces on Jewish residents of Yehuda and Shomron, and their frequency is increasing. Almost every week, Honenu receives reports from various locations of police officers and soldiers threatening residents with their weapons and the use of live fire against them. This seems symptomatic of the prevailing animosity in the local security authorities against the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.
“Due to the prejudicial treatment by the local media of Jewish residents, and the incitement of left-wing organizations, we have reached this unbelievable situation. This should not continue, not even for another minute. I call on the Major-General of the Central Command, the Defense Minister, and the Yehuda and Shomron District Police Commander to immediately stop this disregard for human life before somebody is killed.”
The narrator counts four bullet casings; Video courtesy of the videographer