Israel uses unlawful lethal force against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, carries out unlawful killings and shows “appalling disregard for Palestinian life,” Amnesty International says. Stated.
Human rights groups said in a report released Monday that Israel's actions in the region escalated during the Gaza war, with the military and other groups committing numerous acts of illegal violence in clear violation of international law. .
The world's attention has focused primarily on the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, since the war began on October 7. However, Israeli forces also carry out illegal killings in the occupied Palestinian territories. Amnesty International stated in its report:
The document was compiled from remote interviews with witnesses, first responders and local residents, as well as verified videos and photographs.
“Under the cover of relentless shelling and brutal crimes in Gaza, the Israeli military uses unlawful lethal force against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, carries out unlawful killings and commits appalling acts against Palestinian lives. “It shows such disregard,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International. Director of Global Research, Advocacy and Policy at International.
“These unlawful killings are a blatant violation of international human rights law and are carried out with impunity in the context of maintaining Israel's institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and control of the Palestinian people. .”
Palestinians in the West Bank had already experienced periodic deadly Israeli attacks before the war, but since October there has been an explosion in the number of Israeli attacks.
Israel killed at least 507 Palestinians, including at least 81 children, in the occupied West Bank in 2023, according to statistics from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the organization's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It was the deadliest year since OCHA began recording casualties. Year 2005.
According to UN figures, 299 Palestinians were killed from the start of the war to the end of 2023, a 50 percent increase compared to the first nine months of this year. At least 61 additional Palestinians, including 13 children, were killed by Israeli forces in January, according to the United Nations.
“deliberate murder”
Amnesty International's analysis of the 30-hour Israeli raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem on October 19 shows the tactics employed by the Israeli military.
In the attack, Israeli soldiers used a large number of military vehicles and soldiers to attack more than 40 homes. They destroyed private property, cut holes in walls as sniper outposts, cut off water and electricity to refugee camps, and used bulldozers to destroy public roads, power grids, and water infrastructure.
By the end of the raid, they had killed 13 Palestinians, including six children, four of whom were under the age of 16, and arrested 15 Palestinians.
An Israeli border police officer was killed when an improvised explosive device was used against a military convoy.
Amnesty International said those killed during the attack included an unarmed 15-year-old boy named Taha Mhamid, who came out to check whether Israeli forces had withdrawn from the area. However, he was shot dead by Israeli forces in front of his home.
“They didn't give him a chance,” said Taha's sister Fatima. “In an instant, my brother was eliminated. Three bullets were fired mercilessly. The first bullet hit him in the leg. The second in the stomach. The third in his eyes. There was no confrontation. . . . There was no dispute.”
Taha's father, Ibrahim, tried to carry his son to safety unarmed, but was shot and suffered severe internal injuries.
Amnesty International said: “This unnecessary use of deadly force should be investigated as a possible war crime of deliberate killing, intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health.” .
But Israel's operations against the family did not end there. Approximately 12 hours after Taha's murder, Israeli forces raided Taha's family home and locked her family, including three children, in a room for about 10 hours under the guard of soldiers.
They also cut holes in the walls of two rooms to station snipers overlooking the neighborhood. One witness said soldiers searched the house, beat one of the family members, and another was seen urinating on the front porch.
Israeli bulldozers have caused extensive damage to the refugee camp's narrow streets, blocking access for ambulances and hampering medical evacuation of the injured.
Targeting ambulance, killing demonstrators
Amnesty International has also documented instances in which Israeli forces have fired directly at ambulances and medical staff.
Obstruction of Israeli military medical aid to Palestinians is now a “routine practice”, the human rights group said.
The document records one case in which Israeli soldiers blocked the arrival of an ambulance and the victim died of blood loss.
“The victims have since been recovered by Israeli army ambulances, but their bodies have not yet been returned to their families,” Amnesty said.
The group also documented Israeli forces repressing peaceful Palestinian protests in solidarity with Gaza residents, firing live rounds and tear gas into crowds.