Two men from the village of Qaraqaba in the northern West Bank have been arrested and charged with insulting Islam, the Israel Defense Forces said on Friday.
The IDF said the men, identified only as the brothers, were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of posting photos online that they said showed women wearing a headscarf.
The IDF said in a statement on Friday that the two men were arrested for their Facebook posts and videos, which it said were insulting to Islam.
The IDF identified the suspects as the brother of the soldier who died in the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip and the brother and father of the IDF soldier who was killed in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The suspects posted videos that showed women in headscarfs and other clothing in the West Bank, the statement said.
“The IDF is taking all necessary measures to identify the persons responsible for the posts,” the statement added.
“The IDF takes this action in the interest of upholding the security of its citizens and is committed to combatting terrorist propaganda and hate speech.”
The statement said that the arrests occurred on Thursday and Friday at a home in Qaraqsaba near the northern Israeli town of Pisgat Ze’ev, where the soldiers had been stationed.
The home is in the town’s al-Dara neighborhood.
The video uploaded by the suspects showed a woman with a veil who appeared to be a soldier in military fatigues walking past a group of young boys in a school.
The two suspects posted a video in which the woman, wearing a veil, appeared to shout: “We are proud to be Muslim, we will not wear a veil.”
In the video, the woman then appears to mock the men for posting the photos, saying, “I hope we do not go to jail, you know that you have no right to post pictures on social networks, you are not allowed to take pictures of women in hijab, you cannot even take pictures with your own eyes.”
The men posted another video in Arabic in which they mock the women and shout, “You are wearing a hijab and you are an Israeli citizen, you have to pay taxes, you can’t live on the land, you must wear a burqa.”
“This is a disgrace to the people of Qarahaba,” the women said.
The videos were taken from the internet and posted on social media by the men.
The Palestinian Authority has long complained that Israel treats women differently from men in its schools and public spaces.
Israel has not commented on the arrests, which are being investigated by the Shin Bet security service.
The Shin Bet is Israel’s domestic intelligence agency.