Ref: 113/2014
Date: 02 August 2014
Time: 11:40 GMT
In coincidence with the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip and crimes committed against Palestinian civilians, Israeli forces escalated their excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank who have protested against the Israeli crimes committed in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have opened fire at the protestors targeting the largest number of victims possible. On Friday, 01 August 2014, Israeli forces killed 2 Palestinian civilians and wounded 95 others, including 30 children and 2 journalists, during protests against the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. Some wounded persons sustained serious wounds. Therefore, the number of civilians killed in the West Bank since the kidnapping of 3 Israeli settlers on 12 June 2014 has risen to 25 civilians, including 4 children; 2 of these civilians, including a child, were killed by settlers. Moreover, the number of the wounded since then has risen to 494 civilians, including 103 children, 12 journalists and 4 paramedics.
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), the killing crimes were as follows:
• Following Friday Prayer on 01 August 2014, a demonstration headed from Tulkarm mosque protesting the Israeli crimes committed in the Gaza Strip. The number of protestors participating in this protest was estimated at about 10,000. A number of protestors gathered in “Natanya” Street near factories Jeicora west of the city. Once the protestors approached the vicinity of the factories, Israeli forces moved into the area and started firing tear gas canisters at the protestors, who threw stones and Molotov cocktails in response. Israeli soldiers used live ammunition against the protestors, due to which, Tamer Faraj Mohammed al-Qabb “Samour” (21), from Deir al-Ghsoun, was killed by a bullet wound to the left side. In addition, 6 protestors sustained live bullet wounds. A wounded person sustained a serious wound to the lower back and was taken to Dr. Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarm. Due to the seriousness of his wound, he was taken to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus.
• In the evening, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 2 others during a protest organized in Saffa village, west of Ramallah, condemning the Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip. According to investigations conducted by PCHR and testimonies of eyewitnesses, following the Friday Prayer, a protest was organized near the annexation wall in al-Dhaher area in the west of the said village. Israeli soldiers positioned in the area fired rubber-coated metal bullets and live ammunition at the protestors, who threw stones in response. In the evening, Oday Nafez Fakhri Jaber (20), from Kherbatha al-Mesbah village, west of Ramallah, was killed by a bullet that entered the left arm and settled in the chest. Two other protestors were wounded. Moreover, Israeli forces wounded 14 civilians, including 3 children, in other protests in various areas in Ramallah. The wounded were distributed as follows: ‘Aboud (1); Selwad (4 including a child); Ofer (5); al-Jalazoun refugee camp (a child); Ni’lin (1); al-Nabi Saleh (2 including a child).
• In Nablus, a similar protest was organized when hundreds of protestors headed from al-Shuhada’ square to Hawwarah checkpoint at the southern entrance of the city. Once they reached the end of al-Quds Street about 500 meters away from the said checkpoint, they set fire to tires. Israeli military jeeps approached and Israeli soldiers stepped out of them. They stationed behind cement cubes and opened fire at the protestors. As a result, 8 civilians, including 4 children, sustained live bullet wounds. In addition, Israeli forces fired at an ambulance belonging to the Palestinian Medical Relief while paramedics were offering first aid to the wounded. As a result, a bullet hit the left door of the ambulance.
• In Qalqilya, 4 protestors, including a child, sustained live bullet wounds during Kufor Qaddoum weekly protest that was organized in protest against the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, a fifth protestor was wounded in Jayous village, northeast of Qalqilya. He was taken to Rafidya Hospital for the seriousness of his wound.
• In Hebron, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), a number of civilians were wounded on the abovementioned Friday. 63 civilians, including 21 children, were taken from Bab al-Zawiyah area in the center of Hebron, Halhoul and Beit Ommar village, north of the city. The majority of whom sustained live bullet wounds to the thighs and knees. Among the wounded was Mousa al-Qawasmi, a cameraman at Reuters, who sustained a bullet wound to the left knee.
• In al-‘Eisawiya village, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, Mona Hassan, a freelance journalist, sustained a bullet wound to the right arm.
PCHR strongly condemns these crimes which further prove the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in disregard for the civilians’ lives. Therefore, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
