Agencies-Gaza post
UN calls on Israel to respect human rights, Palestinians life right in West Bank
The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) stated it was alarmed by the effect of heightened Israeli forces’ operations on the right to life of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and called on Israel to respect human rights law during military activity in the West Bank.
“Since the beginning of the year as of 30 June, Israeli forces have killed 60 Palestinians, including 14 boys and five women in the context of law enforcement operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” reported the UN Human Rights Office, which accused the Israeli occupation forces of using “lethal force” against Palestinians demonstrating against illegal settlement activities, or confronting settlers or Israeli forces with stones or Molotov cocktails resulting in the alarming increase in Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank in the first half of 2022.
“Many of the cases monitored by UN Human Rights Office indicated that Israeli forces used lethal force in a manner that appears totally inconsistent with international human rights law,” it said in a statement. “In a number of incidents, it appears that lethal force was used by Israeli forces as a first rather than as a last resort to confront the alleged threat.”
On 10 April, Israeli occupation forces shot dead a 44-year-old Palestinian woman at a checkpoint near Husan, west of Bethlehem. The woman, who suffered from poor eyesight, was shot in the thigh from a distance of two meters as she resumed walking towards the soldiers after they first shouted at her and then shot a warning shot in the air. The UN Office’s monitoring demonstrates she was going empty-handed and did not attempt any violent action against Israeli occupation forces before she was shot.
On 11 May, in the context of stone-throwing by Palestinian youth, Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old boy with live bullet in the chest near his school in Al-Bireh, Ramallah, while he was standing at a distance of around 100 meters, not posing any concrete danger to soldiers.
The UN Human Rights Office also documented happenings where unnecessary lethal force was employed against Palestinian workers trying to cross the wall into Israel. On 8 May, Israeli forces shot with live ammunition and killed a 27-year-old Palestinian worker while he was attempting to cross the Wall near Jabara checkpoint, south of Tulkarem. The Israeli army publicly stated that the man was unarmed when shot. A similar incident took place on 19 June near Qalqiliya, where a 53-year-old worker was shot multiple times from the back and destroyed, allegedly for damaging the separation barrier.
The UN Human Rights Office also reported a number of incidents in which Israeli forces targeted the upper body of individuals with a live bullet in situations where they no longer occurred to pose any threat and in several instances were in fact running away.
On 15 March, Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old boy in Balata refugee camp in Nablus after he had approached an armored vehicle on a motorbike. Information collected meant that the boy was shot multiple times with live ammunition in the back while already running away from heavily armed and protected Israeli forces.
On 30 April, Israeli occupation forces shot several times in the back and killed a 26-year-old Palestinian man in Azzoun near Qalqiliya while he was running away after he had just thrown three Molotov cocktails at an IOF vehicle, in events in which he no longer seemed to pose any threat.
The UN Human Rights Office also reported instances where Israeli forces occurred to followed the so-called ‘confirmation of kill’ procedure, using further lethal force against a suspect who had been already wounded and was no longer posing any threat, raising concern for extrajudicial execution.
On 7 March, the Israeli occupation shot and killed a 22-year-old Palestinian man at the al-Qattaneen gate of the Al Aqsa compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, following a stabbing attack, by shooting at his body and head while he had already lost consciousness and was lying on the foundation wounded.
