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Israeli troops, covering their faces to avoid punishment, have mounted an online campaign in support of a soldier whom they believe was jailed for pointing his gun at Palestinians who were arguing with him. The massive outpouring of support on Facebook was described on Thursday in front-page reports in the Israeli media as a sign of soldiers’ frustrations over their service in occupied territory, where their actions are often under scrutiny by journalists and pro-Palestinian activists with cameras. The Israeli military issued a statement saying the soldier’s punishment was for unruly behavior towards superior officers and not connected to the incident, which was posted on YouTube on Sunday by Palestinian activists and took place in the West Bank city of Hebron. A Facebook page – “I also back David from Nahal” – showed hundreds of photographs, many of them of men and women soldiers in uniform who held placards in front of their faces with messages of support.