Ref: 16/2022

Date: 16 February 2022

Time: 09:40 GMT

In excessive use of force, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed a Palestinian civilian yesterday evening in central Ramallah in central West Bank, during the suppression of a peaceful protest against the Israeli violations.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) notes with concern the recurrence of IOF murders against the Palestinian civilians.  These crimes reflect the excessive use of force in circumstances where there was no imminent threat to the soldiers’ lives and prove IOF lenient shooting standards against the Palestinian civilians. Since the beginning of this year, IOF killed 7 Palestinians, including a child, and injured tens of others, including women and children, in the West Bank.

According to PCHR’s investigations and eyewitnesses’ testimonies, at approximately 14:30 on Tuesday, 15 February 2022, dozens of Palestinians organized a peaceful protest at the main entrance to Nabi Salih village, northwest of Ramallah, against the IOF’s violations that lately resulted in the murder of 4 civilians, including a child, and the injury of others in Nablus and Jenin, in addition to settlers and IOF’s attacks in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. A number of Palestinian young men threw stones and empty bottles at IOF, who immediately responded with live and rubber bullets. At approximately 15:00, during the ongoing violent clashes between IOF and the Palestinians protestors and stone-throwers spread in different areas, Nehad Ameen al-‘Ais al-Barghouthi (19), from Kafr ‘Ein, a nearby village, approached a plot of land surrounded by a fence, where IOF stationed, and threw stones at them. IOF opened fire at al-Barghouthi, wounding him with a live bullet that penetrated his waist. Al-Barghouthi ran about 5 meters away and fell on the ground. The protestors then carried him to a nearby ambulance that took him to the Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah. Later, al-Barghouthi was pronounced dead by doctors after undergoing an urgent surgery and trying to resuscitate him several times.

An eyewitness said to PCHR’s fieldworker that:

“My friend Nehad, hundreds of others and I were participating in a peaceful protest. We arrived at the main entrance to Nabi Salih village, where IOF established a metal-detector gate and a military watchtower. Also, there were at least 20-25 Israeli soldiers and border guard officers deployed 100 meters away. The soldiers approached to disperse us while

other soldiers topped a nearby rocky hill and surrounded the protestors. The soldiers fired sound bombs and live and rubber bullets at us, so the protestors spread.  Afterwards, 20-30 protestors climbed the same hill, where IOF stationed, but from the other side. Clashes erupted between them with a distance of 100 meters between them.  The protestors threw stones at the IOF by slingshots while IOF fired live bullets. In the meantime, an Israeli soldier was lying prone in a sniper position behind a wall in an old building in the middle of a fenced land, while Nehad, few young men and I were on the hill 70 meters away from the old building, where the sniper was along with other Israeli soldiers.  The soldiers were heavily shooting at the protesters, who were hiding behind bricks in an old building and other abandoned houses. Afterwards, I saw Nehad approaching the land, where the IOF deployed, and threw stones at them. The Israeli sniper opened fire at Nehad trying to wound him. I saw Nehad putting his hand on his hip, running 5 meters away and falling.  A group of young men rushed to see Nehad, who fell on his back. Suddenly, the shooting stopped, and the young men shouted for an ambulance. When one of the young men took Nehad’s blouse off, I saw that a hole with little blood in his waist and knew that he was wounded.  His face was yellow, his eyes were open, and his body was loose. We carried him towards an ambulance parked 150 meters away that took him to the Istishari Arab Hospital.“

PCHR reiterates its call on the international community to act immediately to stop the IOF crimes and renews its call on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e. to respect and ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances and their obligations under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and to guarantee Palestinian civilians’ right to protection in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).