Ref: 46/2015
Date: 23 July 2015
Time: 11:00 GMT

In excessive use of force, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian civilians in the north and south of the West Bank within 24 hours. On Wednesday morning, 22 July 2015, Israeli forces killed the first civilian in Burqin village, south of Jenin, and on Thursday, 23 July 2015, they killed the other one, in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron and wounded one of his sons as well. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) believes that the above-mentioned killings violate the principles of necessity and discrimination, and the use of force was excessive, especially that the victims were unarmed civilians. Moreover, Israeli forces shot both victims in the upper parts of their bodies with a deliberate intent to kill them.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR concerning the first crime, at approximately 02:40 on Wednesday, 22 July 2015, Israeli forces moved into Burqin village, west of Jenin. They stationed in al- Masmaka quarter in the east of the village. There, they raided and searched a house belonging to the family of Mohammed Ali Abed al-Kader Ateek, 23, and arrested him. In the meantime, other Israeli forces stationed in the vicinity of the girls’ school, east of the neighborhood, where a number of youngsters gathered and threw stones at the Israeli soldiers. Israeli soldiers stationed inside their military vehicles opened fire in response. As a result, Mohammed Ahmed Mahmoud Alawna, 19, sustained a bullet wound to the chest. Alawna was taken by a private car to Dr. Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin for medical treatment, where he underwent an operation for 6 hours, during which he was given 35 blood units. After the operation had finished, he was transferred to the intensive care unit, but the doctors efforts failed to save his life. A medical source in the aforementioned hospital stated that the bullet penetrated the left side of the chest, due to which the aorta was cut and the liver, stomach and large intestines were injured. The bullet eventually settled in the abdomen.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR concerning the other crime, at approximately 03:20 on Thursday, 23 July 2015, Israeli forces sneaked into Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron, using three Mercedes vans with Palestinian registration plates to arrest members of the Islamic Jihad Movement. The three vans stopped in front of a 3-storey house belonging to the family of Falah Hamdi Zamel Abu Maria, 52, in al-Qaa’ neighborhood in the southeast of the twon. A number of Israeli soldiers in their military uniform and carrying their weapons stepped out the vans to arrest Falah’s son, Mohammed, 24. The soldiers damaged the outside door leading to the second and third floors. In the meantime, one of the soldiers fired a bullet at Falah’s son, Mohammed, 24, who tried to prevent them from raiding the house. As a result, Mohammed sustained a bullet wound to the pelvis. Falah went out to the balcony and when he saw his son wounded and lying on the ground, he started throwing vases and chairs over the Israeli soldiers. Immediately, an Israeli soldier fired seven bullets towards him from a range of 4 meters. Falah sustained a bullet wound to the left side of the chest and the bullet exited the back, while another bullet hit his right arm. About 10 minutes later, Israeli forces withdrew and Falah was taken by a private car to the Ahli Hospital in Hebron. However, he died before being admitted into the Hospital.

PCHR is deeply concerned over these two 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 action 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.