Jerusalem, Feb 5 (EFE).- Israeli troops are using brutal force to repress Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of war with Hamas on Oct. 7, Amnesty International (AI) said Monday.
A Palestinian walks along a damaged street at the Jenin refugee camp following an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, 29 January 2024. EFE-EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
“Over the past few months, Israel has stepped up deadly raids across the West Bank, and tensions have skyrocketed,” AI said in a report.
Between Oct. 7 and Dec. 31, 2023, 299 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, 50 percent more than in the first nine months of the year.
On Jan. 29, 61 people were killed, including 13 minors, according to the United Nations.
“These unlawful killings are in blatant violation of international human rights law and are committed with impunity in the context of maintaining Israel’s institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination over Palestinians,” AI’s director of global research, advocacy and policy, Erika Guevara-Rosas said.
AI investigated four cases where “Israeli forces used unlawful lethal force which resulted in the unlawful killing of 20 Palestinians, including seven children.”
In one such instance on Oct. 19, 15-year-old Taha Mahamid was killed in front of his home by Israeli forces when he went out to check if the troops had left after a 30-hour military raid in the Nour Shams refugee camp in northern West Bank.
During the operation, 12 people were killed, including six minors, and 15 were arrested.
Israel said that a border police officer was also killed in the operation and nine were injured after an improvised explosive device was thrown at them by Palestinians.
“Taha was unarmed and posed no threat to the soldiers at the time he was shot,” the global rights group said, citing witnesses it questioned and videos it examined.
“Three bullets were fired without any mercy. The first bullet hit him in the leg. The second – in his stomach. Third, in his eye. There were no confrontations…there was no conflict,” AI added, quoting his sister Fatima.
When Mahamid’s father tried to rescue his wounded son, Israeli forces shot him in the back, which caused damage to his internal organs.
Neither Mahamid nor his father posed a threat to security forces or anyone else when they were shot, AI said, adding the unnecessary use of lethal force should be investigated as “possible war crimes” of willful killing.
Approximately 12 hours after Mahamid’s killing, the Israeli military stormed his home and locked his family members, including three young children, in a room under the supervision of a soldier for about 10 hours.
The soldiers searched the house, assaulted a family member, and one of them urinated on the doorstep, AI said, quoting a witness.
On Oct. 13, Israeli forces fired at a crowd of about 80 unarmed Palestinians in Tulkarem city during a demonstration in solidarity with Gaza, the nonprofit said.
At least four people were injured in the incident, according to what two journalists told AI, who were also shot despite being identified.
An Israeli soldier shot another protester in the head, who later succumbed to his injuries.
In another incident on Nov. 27 in Beitunia, near Ramallah, Israeli forces “resorted to excessive force against a crowd of Palestinians” who had gathered to greet prisoners released from Ofer prison as part of the deal between Israel and Hamas during the temporary humanitarian pause in Gaza.
“Israeli military fired live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets at the crowd and dropped tear gas canisters using drones,” causing the death of Yassine Al-Asmar, a local who was shot in the chest.
The troops also prevented ambulances from reaching the injured, AI said.
“The obstruction of medical assistance by Israeli forces during operations across the (occupied Palestinian territory) OPT is a routine practice (that) Amnesty International has documented for years and is part of Israel’s system of apartheid.”
The occupied West Bank has been suffering from a sharp escalation of tension for more than a year amid the worst spike in violence with Israel since the Second Intifada uprising (2000-05).
The conflict with Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7 has worsened the situation.
The Israeli army has been conducting almost daily raids and incursions into West Bank towns, which often result in deadly clashes with Palestinian residents. EFE
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