Ref: 66/2023

Date: 14 June 2023

Time: 10:40 GMT

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) shooting attack that occurred on Tuesday, 13 June 2023, and killed a Palestinian with a mental disability and wounded 7 others, including two children; two are in critical condition, during IOF’s incursion into Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, where IOF cordoned off a house. This new crime and other previous crimes come as a part of IOF’s excessive use of force and lenient fire regulations against Palestinians with support of Israel’s top political and military echelons.

According to information collected by PCHR’s fieldworker and eyewitnesses’ testimony, at approximately 13:15 on Tuesday, 13 June 2023, an Israeli Special Force dressed like Palestinian civilians sneaked into Balata refugee camp and stationed around the family house of ‘Esam Hussam Suleiman al-Salaj (20) in the commercial market area in the center of the Camp. The Special Force imposed a cordon on al-Salaj family house while some of its members topped nearby houses’ roofs. Moments later, IOF, reinforced by military vehicles and backed by a drone, moved into the camp and immediately fired heavy live bullets and missiles at the cordoned house, where al-Salaj and his family members were fortified. Afterwards, violent clashes erupted in the area and extended to several streets across the camp to lift the cordon on the house. As a result, a person with a mental disability namely Faris ‘Abed al-Men’im Mohammad Hashash (19) was killed with 3 live bullets; a live bullet penetrated the right side of his abdomen and exited the left side of his heart, lung and spleen, while 2 other bullets penetrated his thighs. IOF opened fire at Hashash, who was hiding behind a wall and trying to look at the area where IOF were stationed, 200 meters away from Hashash.

Moreover, 6 other Palestinians, including two children, were wounded; one was deemed in critical condition after being shot with a live bullet in his back. After IOF withdrew at around 15:30, it turned out that al-Salaj, who was in the cordoned house, was seriously injured with several live bullets in the back and was evacuated along with the other wounded to Rafidia Governmental Hospital in Nablus.

PCHR reiterates its calls on the international community to take an immediate action to stop the Israeli crimes and double standards when applying international law and urges in particular the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take serious action in the situation of Palestine.

PCHR demands the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention fulfil their obligations as per Common Article 1 of the Convention, “undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances,” and their obligations under Article 146 of the same Conventions, i.e., to hold accountable persons accused of committing grave breaches of the Convention.