The army of Israel is again accused of committing abuses and violations of human rights against Palestinians.
The allegations came after Israeli soldiers were filmed throwing the bodies of several Palestinians from the roof of a building during an operation in the West Bank.
Footage of the incident, filmed in the northern town of Qabatiya near Jenin, has sparked outrage at home and abroad and forced the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to open an investigation into what it called “a serious accident” that did not “adjust” to its values and what is expected of its members.
Palestinian officials say at least seven people were killed by Israeli forces in Qabatiya on Thursday.
Under international law, soldiers are obliged to ensure that bodies, including those of enemy combatants, be treated with respect.
From different angles
In the footage, taken by AP journalists who were in the area, uniformed officers can be seen throwing the bodies of some men from the top of a building, while next to the structure an Israeli military excavator appears to be collecting human remains.
In other videos that have circulated on social media, presumably made by residents of Qabatiya, at least three soldiers can be seen from other angles on the roof of a building, and One of them pushes a corpse with his feet until it falls..
The IDF said it carried out an anti-terror operation in the West Bank town, during which four militants were killed in an “exchange of fire” and three others were killed after a drone attack on a car.
A Qabatiya journalist told the BBC that Israeli troops had surrounded a building in the town on Thursday morning and described how four men had managed to escape to the roof and were hit by sniper fire.
As fighting around the town died down, the reporter said he saw Israeli soldiers climb onto the roof and drop bodies over the edge, which were then loaded onto a bulldozer.
For his part, Ameed Shehadeh, a correspondent for the Arab channel Al-Arabi and who also witnessed the incident, declared to the American network CNN that “An excavator tried to demolish the building to remove the bodies, but that didn’t work.”.
“The soldiers climbed up and kicked and pushed the bodies from the roof, as we have seen. They kicked, pushed and threw three different bodies from one roof, and a fourth body was thrown from the adjacent roof a few metres below,” he added.
When asked about the incident captured on the footage, IDF spokespeople acknowledged that “this is a serious incident that does not conform to (our) values and the expectations of IDF soldiers.”
“The incident is being investigated.“military spokesmen said.
Criticism from within and without
The Israeli army said one of those killed in Qabatiya was Shadi Zakarnehwhom he identified as “responsible for directing and carrying out attacks in the northern West Bank.”
Military officials said the deceased was “the head of the terrorist organisation” in Qabatiya, although they did not specify which group he belonged to.
However, Palestinian media have claimed that Zakarneh was Local leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigadean armed group split from the main Palestinian Authority party, Fatah.
The rest of the deceased have been identified as Muhamad Khaled Abu al Rab, Omar Hamza Abu al Rab, Ahmed Maher Zakarne, Mustafa Faisal Zakarne, Yawdat Hanayshé and Muhamad Omar Kamil.
The release of the images has sparked a storm of criticism against the Israeli military.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), described what was recorded in the videos as A “crime” that exposes the “brutality” of the Israeli army.
The White House also found the images “deeply disturbing.”
“If proven to be authentic, they would clearly show abominable and atrocious behavior “by professional soldiers,” US Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Another case
The Qabatiya incident adds to the list of cases of abuses, excesses and human rights violations that the Israeli military has allegedly committed since the outbreak of the current conflict on October 7 last year.
In June of this year, Israeli soldiers were filmed driving a vehicle with a wounded Palestinian tied to its hoodThe incident also occurred in the West Bank city of Jenin.
At the time, military authorities claimed that the injured man was a suspected terrorist who had been wounded in an exchange of gunfire.
However, instead of waiting for an ambulance to take him to a hospital, a group of soldiers tied the man to the top of the vehicle in which they were travelling.
Weeks later, the arrest of ten uniformed officers was announced, who were accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee in Sde Teiman prisonin southern Israel. The victim is believed to be a member of an elite Hamas unit.
Recent reports by Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations have alleged that prisoners from Gaza have been tortured in the penitentiary by their guards, resulting in the deaths of dozens of them.
“The testimonies clearly indicate a systematic institutional policy focused on the continued abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners.”the Israeli group B’Tselem said in a report published last August, in which it revealed that dozens of detainees have been subjected to acts ranging from arbitrary violence to sexual abuse.
“There is no military need to do this. It is simply a savage way of treating Palestinian bodies.“We are not doing this for the Palestinians,” complained Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, referring to the images showing Israeli soldiers throwing bodies into the air.
Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza, there has been an increase in violence in the West Bank.
Since then, more than 690 people have died in the other Palestinian territory, according to its health authorities. This is because Israeli forces have stepped up their raids and operations in the area.
Israel, for its part, says it is trying to stop Palestinian attacks in the West Bank and Israel, which have killed at least 33 Israelis.
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israeli military actions, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
*With reporting by Yolande Knell and James Gregory