Ref: 22/2014
Date: 27 February 2014
Time: 13:00 GMT

In an extra-judicial execution, on Thursday morning 27 February 2014, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in Birzeit village, north of Ramallah. Israeli forces surrounded his family house for hours and shelled it. As a result the house caught fire.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 06:00 on Thursday morning, Israeli forces backed with over 20 military vehicles moved into Birzeit village, north of Ramallah. They stationed in Prince Hassan neighborhood, northwest of the village, and surrounded a 2-storey house belonging to the family of Abdul Rahim Ahmed Abdullah Washha. Israeli soldiers fired sound bombs in the area and ordered the house residents and their neighbors via loudspeakers to get out of their houses. Once a number of the house residents went out, Israeli forces arrested the son of the aforementioned person, Ramez (28), and his cousin Fadi (27). Both of them were handcuffed and then beaten up by Israeli soldiers. An officer questioned Washha on the spot regarding his other son Mo’taz (25). Washha answered that he had not known whether his son was at home or not as he slept before his son had returned home the other night. At approximately 08:30, Israeli forces brought a bulldozer and started demolishing the western wall of the house. They continued demolition works until 10:30. In the meantime, an Israeli soldier fired a shell at the house. Israeli soldiers fired 4 other shells, as a result, the house caught fire. Israeli forces immediately raided the house during heavy fire. At approximately 12:00, Israeli forces withdrew. In the meantime, a PRCS ambulance arrived. Paramedics went into the house and found Mo’taz dead. The corpse was taken to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. Sources at the emergency and of PRCS stated that the killed had sustained shell shrapnel wounds to the upper part of the body. Besides, he suffered severe brain injury. They also identified signs of ruptures and burns in the upper part of the body. The killed person was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and had been arrested by Israeli forces but released 6 months ago.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights expresses deep concern for such crimes which reflect the continued use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in disregard for their lives. Therefore, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 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.