Ref: 28/2014
Date: 11 March 2014
Time: 13:00 GMT

On Monday, 10 March 2014, in an excessive use of force, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian in Beitin village, northeast of Ramallah. Israeli forces admitted they were responsible for killing the aforementioned person and claimed that Israeli soldiers opened fire at a number of Palestinian youngsters, who threw stones at settlers’ vehicles on road (60) near “Givat Asaf” settlement outpost, due to which a Palestinian was killed.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 19:15 on the abovementioned day, Israeli forces, who had set an ambush for the stone throwers, fired 3 bullets sporadically at Saji Sayel Darwish Jarab’a (20), from Beitin village, northeast of Ramallah. Jarab’a was in a farmland that is about 250 meters away from the last house in his village from the eastern side. As a result, Saji was killed. Sources at the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said to a PCHR fieldworker that the PRCS emergency department received a call from the Palestinian liaison office at approximately 19:40 informing them there was a Palestinian was killed in the area overlooking the bypass road between “Beit Eil” and “Ofra” settlement. An ambulance headed immediately to the area. They found Saji dead and was surrounded by a number of Israeli soldiers. He was taken to Palestine Medical Compound in Ramallah. Medical sources at the compound and PRCS stated the killed was shot by 2 bullets to the left side of the back of his head. It should be noted the victim was a freshman at the Faculty of Media in Bir Zeit University.

PCHR strongly condemns this crimes, which once again proves the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians. PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to stop such crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances. PCHR also calls upon the international community to fulfill 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.