A video showing a heavily armed Israeli soldier holding a terrified palestinian child in a headlock went viral on social media over the weekend.

The incident took place during a protest Friday organized by Palestinian activists against settlement construction in the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank, reported CNN.

Photo: AFP

The soldier was trying to arrest the 11-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Tamimi, who appears to have a broken arm.

Photo: AFP

The footage show the soldier putting a headlock on the child while women pull on the soldier’s back, trying to free the boy.

Photo: AFP

After a very tense moment, the soldier finally decided to let the boy go.

Photo: AFP

“This is very difficult for any father or mother to see their son or daughter in that way,” the boy’s father told reporters, calling the altercation evidence of “Israeli abuse.”

However, the Israeli military defended its actions saying that people in the crowd had thrown rocks at the soldiers.

“The commander at the scene halted the arrest to avoid an escalation of the situation,” an Israeli army spokeswoman told CNN.

Watch the dramatic video below:

Residents of Nabi Saleh often stage protests against Israel’s settlement policy, and sometimes the protests turn violent, with Palestinian youths throwing stones and Israeli soldiers firing tear gas and rubber bullets, according to the report.

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