Ref:59/2023
Date: 22 May 2023
Time: 11:30 GMT
At dawn, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 3 Palestinians; one was a civilian and the other 2 were members of the Palestinian armed groups and injured a woman and three members of the Palestinian armed groups during IOF’s incursion into Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, deep into the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). PCHR’s investigations emphasize that the civilian was unjustifiably killed in cold blood as he posed no threat or danger to the Israeli soldiers and was left to bleed for 20 minutes without providing him first aid until he died. This crime is part of IOF’s persistent and systematic escalation and increasing killings due to the excessive use of force and lenient open-fire regulations with support of Israel’s top political and military echelons.
According to PCHR’s investigations and eyewitnesses’ testimonies, at approximately 01:00 on Monday, 22 May 2023, IOF, accompanied with military vehicles, raided Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, and stationed on the camp outskirts. The soldiers stepped out of the vehicles and walked into the camp; meanwhile, Mohammad Bilal Abu Zeitoun (31), a cleaner, was on his way back home from his work at the Nablus Municipality. As soon as Mohammed had left the municipal vehicle he was working on near the Oli Al-‘Azm Mosque inside the camp, the Israeli soldiers without warning opened fire at him, wounding him with 3 bullets in the chest, left hand and left leg and leaving him to bleed for 20 minutes. With his killing, IOF, which cordoned off the camp, was revealed and armed clashes broke out between the IOF and members of the Palestinian armed groups. As a result, two of the latter were killed and 3 others were wounded, including one seriously wounded. The two killed were identified: ‘Abdullah Yousuf Hmeid Abu Hamdan (24), who was shot with three bullets in the hand, abdomen and chest; and Fathi Jihad ‘AbdulSalam Rizq (30), who was shot with a bullet in the back.
At approximately 04:30, IOF raided a 3-storey house belonging to Abu Shallal family in the camp, where 7 families of 43 persons, including 9 children and 10 women, lived. IOF implanted explosives on the first floor, which was uninhabited, without evacuating the residents from the other floors, and remotely detonated the floor. As a result, the second and third floors sustained severe damage in addition to a nearby 2-storey house belonging to Abu Dira’ family sheltering 2 families of 13, including 3 children and 5 women, while Sarah Khalid Moussa Abu Dira’ (24) was injured inside her house with shrapnel in the head.
PCHR condemns IOF’s persistent escalation, including incursions which have recently increased into the PA controlled areas in the West Bank. PCHR calls on the international community to take an immediate action to stop the Israeli crimes and double standards when applying the international law, and in particular urging the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take serious action in the situation of Palestine. PCHR demands the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention fulfil their obligations as per Common Article 1 of the Convention, “undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances,” and their obligations under Article 146 of the same Conventions, i.e., to hold accountable persons accused of committing grave breaches of the Convention.
