Israeli police used a Taser on a Palestinian man as he lay face down during a raid on a pre-wedding celebration in Umm al-Fahm, according to a Palestinian lawmaker, in an incursion that saw dozens of officers storm the gathering, throw stun grenades and order guests to the ground.
Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of Israel's parliament, said footage from the Saturday night raid showed an officer using a Taser on an attendee who was already lying on the floor.
“Documentation of criminal conduct by a police officer toward one of the attendees who lay flat on the floor, with the officer using a Taser on him for no reason, and shouting,” Tibi wrote on X.
A resident of Umm al-Fahm, Yanal Jabarin, also told The New Arab that the incursion was a shock and unlike anything that has happened in the town before.
"Since this government came to power, virtually all forms of racism, discrimination, hatred and violent policing have increased," Jabarin said.
"And particularly now, as we approach the elections, we are likely to see more incidents like this at protests, weddings, and perhaps even places of worship," he continued.
The raid on the henna celebration, a traditional gathering held before a wedding, was the second Israeli police intervention at a Palestinian wedding celebration in 48 hours.
It came a day after Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, publicly praised the detention of a Palestinian bride and groom whose wedding convoy police alleged had disrupted traffic.
Video from Umm al-Fahm, a predominantly Palestinian city inside Israel near Haifa, showed officers ordering guests to lie face down as police moved through the celebration.
Despite residents of Umm al-Fahm being Palestinian citizens of Israel, Jabarin says they do not hold the same legal status as Jews.
"Israel is a Jewish state, and the notion of Jewish supremacy is deeply rooted across the system. This is reflected both in what happens on the ground and in government policies that target and discriminate against the Arab national minority," he explained.
"Ben-Gvir, like other ministers and the government as a whole, has made statements and taken actions that target Arabs and their presence, identity and national rights," Jabarin continued.
'Spoiled our joy'
Mustafa al-Afan Mohamed, the groom's father, told local media that officers entered without warning, threw stun grenades among the guests and forced those present onto the ground.
“They spoiled our joy and ruined the festive atmosphere for no reason,” he said, adding that officers broke several chairs.
Witnesses told local media that police searched guests but found nothing suspicious. They said officers also took sweets from the celebration and confiscated a shisha.
Israeli police said the raid had been prompted by suspicions that firearms had been used at the celebration.
“The actions documented in the video were carried out following the suspicion that firearms were used,” police said in a statement, adding that officers had acted “to investigate the suspicions and locate the weapons”.
“The Israel Police will continue acting resolutely and uncompromisingly against the occurrence of gunfire at weddings,” the statement added.
Police did not say whether any firearm was ultimately found at the celebration.
A second wedding targeted in 48 hours
The raid drew particular anger because it came just a day after police detained a Palestinian bride and groom over their wedding convoy, an operation that Ben-Gvir publicly celebrated.
The far-right minister, who oversees Israel's police, has repeatedly advocated aggressive policing of Palestinian communities and has faced accusations of encouraging discriminatory treatment of Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Umm al-Fahm's municipality condemned Saturday's raid, saying the celebration had not violated regulations, including rules restricting festivities after 11 p.m.
The municipality called for an investigation into what it described as the use of “disproportionate force” against civilians attending the celebration.
Ali Adnan Barakat, an attorney for the Umm al-Fahm municipal council, said the conduct of the officers should be investigated if there was no legal justification for the raid, particularly in light of rhetoric from Ben-Gvir.
“The intimidation of the guests, disruption of their security and ruining their joy at a social event is condemnable and must not go unpunished,” he said.
Tibi characterised the raid as an attempt to intimidate Palestinian citizens rather than a routine police operation.
“This isn’t enforcement,” he said. “This is a police force that wants to turn even an Arab wedding into a zone of fear and intimidation.”
Journalist Jonathan Cook also pointed to the location of the raid, noting that Umm al-Fahm is not in the occupied West Bank but inside Israel's internationally recognised borders.
“The Palestinian city of Umm al-Fahm isn’t even in the illegally occupied West Bank,” he wrote on X. “It’s in what’s been considered Israel since 1948.”
“The Palestinian wedding goers face down on the ground are the ‘citizens’ Israel tells you have the same rights as Israeli Jews,” he added.
The scenes have added to longstanding concerns among Palestinian citizens of Israel about policing in their communities and the increasingly hardline approach pursued under Ben-Gvir.
Palestinian citizens of Israel make up roughly a fifth of the country's population and have long complained of institutional discrimination, including disparities in policing, housing and public services.
The raid also comes amid intensified Israeli operations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where troops have carried out widespread arrests, raids and demolitions. At least 630 Palestinians were arrested across the territory in July, according to a Palestinian prisoners' rights group.