While Israeli officials continue to claim, despite all evidence to
the contrary, that the Israel Defense Forces are targeting Hamas in
their bombardment of occupied Palestine, a new report from Amnesty International
on Monday details the extent to which the military has frequently used
lethal force against civilians across the West Bank in addition to the
more than 27,000 people it has killed in Gaza.
Calling for an investigation into possible war crimes, the group said
it had analyzed four cases in which the IDF has used "unlawful lethal
force" against people in the occupied West Bank and blocked medical
professionals from reaching injured residents, with Amnesty's Crisis
Evidence Lab verifying 19 videos and four photos of the incidents.
The
events documented in the report account for the deaths of 20
Palestinians, including seven children. Since October 7, when the IDF
began attacking the West Bank and Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led
attack on southern Israel, at least 360 people have been killed by
Israeli forces in the West Bank, including 94 children, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Erika
Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty's director of global research, advocacy, and
policy, said the surge in unlawful deadly attacks in the West Bank have
been perpetrated "under the cover of the relentless bombardment and
atrocity crimes in Gaza."
"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," said
Guevara-Rosas. "These cases provide shocking evidence of the deadly
consequences of Israel's unlawful use of force against Palestinians in
the West Bank. Israeli authorities, including the Israeli judicial
system, have proven shamefully unwilling to ensure justice for
Palestinian victims."
The report was released days after a team of Israeli forces disguised themselves as medical staff and civilians and raided
Ibn Sina Hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, killing three
Palestinians who they claimed—without evidence—were planning an attack
on Israel.
OCHA has recorded a sharp increase in "search and
arrest operations" by the IDF in the occupied West Bank since October 7,
with 54% of the 4,382 Palestinians injured in Israel's assault
sustaining their injuries during raids.
In the early days of the
Israeli onslaught, 13 people, including six children, were killed during
a raid on Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem that began on October 19
and went on for 30 hours. IDF soldiers "stormed more than 40 residential
homes, destroying personal belongings and drilling holes in the walls
for sniper outposts" during the operation, which Israel said was in
response to an improvised explosive device that was thrown at border
police by Palestinians.
Israeli authorities cut off water and
electricity to the camp and used bulldozers to destroy infrastructure,
while stopping at least two ambulances from reaching people who were
injured.
One person killed in the raid was 15-year-old Taha
Mahami, who was "unarmed and posed no threat to the soldiers at the time
he was shot, based on witness testimony and videos reviewed by Amnesty
International."
"They did not give him a chance. In an instant, my
brother was eliminated," said Fatima Mahamid, the victim's sister.
"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."
When the children's
father, Ibrahim Mahamid, tried to carry his injured son out of the line
of fire, he was shot in the back by the IDF, sustaining damage to his
internal organs.
"Neither Taha nor Ibrahim Mahamid posed a threat
to security forces or anyone else when they were shot," said Amnesty.
"This unnecessary use of lethal force should be investigated as possible
war crimes of wilful killing and willfully causing great suffering or
serious injury to body or health."
In another "egregious"
incident in October in Tulkarem, two eyewitnesses interviewed by Amnesty
described Israeli forces opening fire from a watch tower on a crowd of
at least 80 people who were holding a peaceful protest in solidarity
with Gaza.
IDF soldiers opened fire on journalists wearing
clearly visible "Press" markings as well as on a Palestinian man who was
riding past the protest on a bike.
By carrying out such attacks,
said Amnesty, Israel is violating international standards including the
U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials.
"These standards prohibit the use of
force by law enforcement officials unless strictly necessary and to the
extent required for the performance of their duty and require that
firearms may only be used as a last resort—when strictly necessary for
military personnel or police to protect themselves or others against the
imminent threat of death or serious injury," said the group. "Willful
killings of protected persons and willfully causing great suffering or
serious injury to protected persons are grave breaches of the Fourth
Geneva Convention and war crimes."
Guevara-Rosas said the
incidents documented in the report, and the Israeli onslaught in the
West Bank and Gaza as a whole, "is a litmus test for the legitimacy and
reputation" of the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes war
crimes, and that "it cannot afford to fail it."
"In this
climate of near total impunity, an international justice system worth
its salt must step in," said Guevara-Rosas. "The prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court must investigate these killings and
injuries as possible war crimes of willful killing and willfully causing
great suffering or serious injury."