Ref: 127/2022

Date: 08 October 2022

Time: 16:00 GMT

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 4 Palestinians, including 2 children, and wounded 10 others, including 3 in critical condition; one of them is a child, in 3 separate incidents this morning and yesterday evening in Jenin, Ramallah and Qalqilya in the West Bank.  These killings fall under crimes of excessive use of force due to IOF’s loose shooting standards upon Israeli top-level military and political orders.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the ongoing escalation and incursions by IOF deep into the Palestinian Authority (PA)-controlled areas in the West Bank aiming to kill or arrest and indicates a sharp rise in the death toll in the West Bank within the past 2 weeks due to these shoot-to-kill orders despite no imminent danger or threat posed to IOF’s lives.

According to PCHR’s investigations into the killing of 2 Palestinians, including a child, and injury of 9 others in Jenin, at approximately 08:55 on Saturday, 08 October 2022, an Israeli Special Force from “Yamam Unit” infiltrated into Jenin refugee camp, West of Jenin, and cordoned off the house of Sameer Saleh Abu Zeina in the camp’s center. Moments later, IOF backed by military vehicles and 2 planes: a helicopter and a drone moved into the camp, laid siege to it, and tightened the cordon around the house. IOF heavily opened fire at the cordoned 2-storey house and managed to arrest the son of the house’s owner, Saleh (25). During the cordon on the house that lasted till 10:30, Palestinians gathered and threw stone at the IOF’s vehicles in the camp while IOF opened fire at them. During IOF’s withdrawal, clashes erupted near the Al-Hamamah intersection in the west and Al-Batekha intersection in the northwest of Jenin. As a result, 11 were injured: 5, including 2 children, in critical condition, and were all taken to Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, where 2 of those injured were pronounced dead and identified as Mahmoud Moayyad Mahmoud Sous (17), a resident of Jenin refugee camp who was shot in the neck near Al-Hamamah intersection, and Ahmad Mohammad Hussein Daraghma (19), a resident of Tubas who was shot in the head near Al-Batekha intersection.

According to PCHR’s investigations into the killing of a Palestinian civilian and the injury of another in Ramallah, at approximately 17:00 on Friday, 07 October 2022, dozens of Palestinian young men gathered in Jabal al-Harasha area in al-Mazra’a al-Gharbiyia village, north of Ramallah, to protest against the settlement activity, as this area is under the threat of confiscation by IOF, who establish a military point there. Afterwards, the young Palestinians threw stones, empty bottles and Molotov Cocktails at IOF stationed in the area, while the latter fired live and rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades, and teargas canisters at the protester, and violent clashes broke out in the area.  IOF shooting at around 17:55 seriously wounded two Palestinians, including a child, who were taken to the Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah. At approximately 19:30, medical sources announced the death of one of them and identified him as Mahdi Mohammed ‘Abed al-Mo’ti Ladadwa (19) after being shot with a live bullet in his left waist.

An eyewitness said to PCHR’s fieldworker that an Israeli soldier opened fire from a distance of less than 20 meters at Ladadwa, who posed no threat or danger to the soldiers’ lives. Ladadwa fell on the ground and was then taken by a civilian car to the hospital before he was pronounced dead later.

Regarding the child injured, he was identified as Nour ‘Ali al-Sa’di Shreiteh (16), who was shot with a live bullet in his pelvis, and IOF attempted to arrest him after being injured, but people managed to take him to the hospital. IOF arrested one of those who prevented the arrest attempt.

According to PCHR’s investigations into the killing of a child in Qalqilya, at approximately 17:00 on Friday, IOF stationed near the annexation wall in the groves area known as “Birin”, south of Qalqilya, opened fire at a group of boys and children in one of the groves, where they usually go from time to time, and which is around 100 meters away from the IOF. As a result, ‘Adel Ibrahim ‘Adel Dawoud (14) was shot with a live bullet in the head, taken to Qalqilya Governmental Hospital and then referred to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. Medical sources at Rafidia Hospital pronounced him dead.

The Israeli military spokesperson said that an Israeli military force was conducting routine activity near the security fence in Qalqilya when a suspect hurled a Molotov cocktail at the force, who responded with live fire and could him injured. The spokesperson added that investigation into the incident circumstances is continued.[1]

A farmer, who was in the area, said to PCHR’s fieldworker that the boys usually play in the area and sometimes throw stones at IOF. He added that the boys told him that Dawoud was injured while sitting on a waterpipe in the area, which was not witnessing any events at the time. 

So far in 2022, IOF attacks killed 137 Palestinians, including 97 civilians: 29 children, 8 women, 2 Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers and the rest were activists; 15 of them were assassinated. Moreover, hundreds of others sustained wounds in IOF attacks, including women and children, across the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

PCHR call upon the international community to take immediate action to end Israeli occupation’s crimes and double standards when it comes to international law and urges the Public Prosecution of the ICC to act seriously with regard to the situation in Palestine.  PCHR also 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.

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[1] https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/defense/1665170665-israeli-forces-kill-2-palestinian-teens-in-west-bank-clashes