Israeli police storm Palestinian henna party, Taser man lying on ground, video shows

Video circulating from Umm al-Fahm shows Israeli police forcing a man to the ground and shocking him with a Taser while he lay face down, unable to move, during a raid on a pre-wedding henna celebration Saturday night.

Palestinian member of Knesset Ahmad Tibi posted the footage and described it bluntly: a police officer using a Taser on someone already lying flat on the floor, for no apparent reason, while shouting at him.

Dozens of officers stormed the gathering, according to witnesses and video reviewed by The New Arab. They threw stun grenades among guests and ordered the crowd, including families gathered for the celebration that traditionally precedes a wedding, to lie face down.

Mustafa al-Afan Mohamed, the groom's father, told local media officers entered without warning. He said they broke several chairs and confiscated a shisha pipe and sweets from the party. Witnesses said police searched attendees and found nothing suspicious.

Police cite unproven gun suspicion

Israel Police said in a statement that the raid was triggered by suspicion that firearms had been fired at the celebration, and that officers acted to investigate and locate weapons. The statement did not say whether any firearm was recovered, and residents who spoke to local media said nothing suspicious turned up.

The police statement added that officers would continue acting "resolutely and uncompromisingly" against gunfire at weddings, a framing that treats an unconfirmed tip as justification for the scale of force used.

Second wedding raid in two days

The henna raid was not an isolated event. It came a day after police detained a Palestinian bride and groom over their wedding convoy, which officers alleged had disrupted traffic. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister who oversees the police, publicly praised that detention.

Ben-Gvir has repeatedly pushed for more aggressive policing in Palestinian communities inside Israel and has faced recurring accusations of encouraging discriminatory treatment of Palestinian citizens.

Umm al-Fahm's municipality condemned the raid, stating the celebration had not broken any regulations, including rules on the timing of festivities after 11 p.m. It called for an investigation into what it called "disproportionate force" used against civilians. An attorney for the municipal council said officer conduct should be reviewed if no legal justification for the raid can be established.

Yanal Jabarin, a resident of Umm al-Fahm, told The New Arab the incursion was unlike anything the town had experienced before. He linked it to a broader pattern he says has intensified under the current government, warning that with elections approaching, similar police actions targeting Palestinian citizens at protests, weddings and places of worship are likely to increase.

Umm al-Fahm is a predominantly Palestinian city inside Israel, near Haifa. Its residents hold Israeli citizenship but, as Jabarin and others argue, do not experience equal legal or social status, a disparity they say is visible both in policing on the ground and in statements from senior government ministers.