The Israeli military has acknowledged that its soldiers marked Palestinian detainees with numbers during a raid in the West Bank town of Qabatiya on Monday, a practice that drew sharp condemnation. Video footage showed journalist Mahmoud Zakarneh with the number 44 written on his forehead after his detention, and reports indicated soldiers used markers to write numbers on the faces and bodies of several Palestinians during interrogations.
The army said the operation involved searching more than 100 buildings and resulted in the arrest of two suspects accused of planning attacks against Israel. The military admitted a mistake had occurred during the operation and said lessons would be learned. Detainees were also reportedly beaten during the raid.
Arab lawmaker Ahmed Tibi called the images a reminder of "dark times" that should shake every person. Separately, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir publicly called for the daily killing of 30 to 40 people in Gaza.