AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
Source:
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, 28 September 2016
(snip)
KILLINGS BY THE ISRAELI ARMY
Hadeel al-Hashlamoun, 18, was killed on 22 September 2015 in Hebron. Hadeel al-Hashlamoun was shot at Checkpoint 56 in Hebron by Israeli soldiers. She was holding a knife, but was separated from the soldiers by a metal barrier, and at no point did she pose a sufficient threat to the soldiers to make their use of deliberate lethal force permissible. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli army’s Judea Brigade commander, Colonel Yariv Ben Ezra, had concluded in an initial review of the incident that Hadeel al-Hashlamoun could have been detained by the soldiers, and not killed.4 Amnesty International is not aware of the existence of any criminal investigation into her death. Her death should be investigated as a possible extrajudicial execution.
Hudhayfa Suleiman, 18, was killed on 4 October 2015 near the city of Tulkarem. Hudhayfa Suleiman was shot and killed by the Israeli military with live fire during clashes at a checkpoint near Tulkarem. The Israeli army said that it had opened fire at three Palestinians who were throwing firebombs, but did not release information to suggest that the lives of Israeli troops had been in immediate danger. The use of live fire therefore appears to have been unjustified, and Hudhayfa Suleiman’s death should be investigated as an unlawful killing. According to information received by the NGO B’Tselem, the Military Advocate General (MAG) has opened a criminal investigation into the killing of Hudhayfa Suleiman.
‘Abd al-Rahman Obeidallah, 13, was killed on 5 October 2015 in Bethlehem. ‘Abd al-Rahman Obeidallah was shot by an Israeli soldier armed with a .22 Ruger rifle in Aida Refugee Camp, and died in the hospital shortly afterwards; doctors said he was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest. Eyewitnesses told researchers from Defense for Children International - Palestine that ‘Abd al-Rahman Obeidallah and another boy were standing about 70 metres from clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths. As he was not posing an imminent threat of death or injury to Israeli soldiers or others, the shooting of ‘Abd al-Rahman Obeidallah was unlawful. The fact that he appears to have been killed as a result of the intentional lethal use of a firearm means his death should be effectively investigated as a possible extrajudicial execution.6 An initial army probe reported by Haaretz on 5 October 2015 found that the killing had been “unintentional”. According to information received by the NGO B’Tselem, the MAG has opened a criminal investigation into the killing of ‘Abd al-Rahman Obeidallah.
Muhammad Youssef al-Atrash, 20, was killed on 26 October 2015 in Hebron. The Israeli police labelled this incident an “attempted stabbing” but an eyewitness watching the events unfold from her balcony said Muhammad Youssef al-Atrash had posed no threat when he was shot. One of the soldiers had asked him for his ID and, as he reached into his pocket to remove his card, another soldier standing behind him shot him on his right side, she told Amnesty International. As he was not posing an imminent threat to the lives of the soldiers or others, his killing was unjustified and should be investigated as a possible extrajudicial execution. Witnesses also reported that the soldiers denied medical treatment to the wounded Muhammad Youssef al-Atrash for 40 minutes.8 It is a basic duty under international law to provide medical aid to the wounded, and failure to do so – especially intentional failure – violates the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. As such, failure to provide medical aid should be investigated as a criminal offence. Amnesty International is seeking information about any criminal investigations launched into the denial of medical aid to Muhammad Youssef al-Atrash. The organization is not aware of the existence of any criminal investigations into his killing.
Tharwat al-Sharawi, 72, was killed on 6 November 2015 in Hebron. The Israeli military alleged that she intended to ram them with her car. A video of the incident shows the car she was driving heading towards the soldiers at a speed slow enough to allow the soldiers to jump out of the way and then begin shooting heavily at the car. Tharwat al-Sharawi’s son has said that his mother was on her way to lunch when she was killed. Amnesty International believes that, even if Tharwat-al-Sharami did intend to carry out a ramming attack, the military has itself acknowledged that soldiers only began firing after jumping out of the way of the car. This means that the imminent danger to them had passed. She also did not appear to be posing a threat of death or serious injury to others. Accordingly, the use of lethal force seems to have been unlawful and the killing should be investigated as a possible extrajudicial execution.9 Yet, according to information received by B’Tselem, the MAG has decided that no criminal investigation will be opened into her killing.
Lafi Yusuf Mostafa Awad, 22, was killed on 13 November 2015 in Budrus. A witness told Amnesty International that Lafi Yusuf Mostafa Awad was shot in the back after running away as soldiers tried to arrest him during clashes near the fence/wall that passes near the village. He had already been shot with a rubber bullet as part of his arrest, the witness said. According to the witness version of events, he was not posing any danger to the lives of soldiers or others. There does not therefore appear to have been any justification for the use of lethal force. On 12 August 2015, Haaretz reported that the Israeli army had refined its orders to soldiers and reminded them that fleeing suspects were not to be shot if they were not posing or no longer posed a mortal danger.10 It therefore appears that Lafi Yusuf Mostafa Awad was killed in contravention of the army’s own open fire regulations. Awad’s death should be investigated as a possible extrajudicial execution. Yet, according to information received by B’Tselem, the MAG has decided that no criminal investigation will be opened into his killing.
Read more:
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1548122016ENGLISH.pdf
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