The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday suspended soldiers who appeared on video singing Hanukkah songs over the loudspeaker system in a mosque in the West Bank city of Jenin.

The incident came as the military continued a three-day operation in the city, a hotbed for terrorism, during which troops detained hundreds of suspects and seized weapons.

Footage circulating online showed the soldiers singing Hanukkah songs and the Jewish prayer of Shema Yisrael.

The IDF said the soldiers were removed from operational duty immediately after their commanders saw and investigated the videos.

“The behavior of the soldiers in the videos is serious and is completely contrary to IDF values,” it said, adding that “the soldiers will be disciplined accordingly.”

An unnamed security official told Kan news that the “independent act of a small force not only harms the image of the IDF, it also diverts attention from the important achievements of the operation.”

Since the October 7 onslaught by Hamas against Israel, troops have arrested over 2,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,100 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, some 280 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, and in a few cases by settlers.

Based on military estimates, the vast majority of the 280 Palestinians killed since October 7 were shot dead during clashes amid arrest raids, and many of them, according to data seen by The Times of Israel, were armed with either a firearm or an explosive device.

The IDF is aware of at least three cases of uninvolved Palestinians being killed by troops in recent weeks, and a handful of cases of settlers killing Palestinians, which are still under investigation.