Ref: 40/2023
Date: 09 April 2023
Time: 18:30 GMT
Masked gunmen killed (Z. Gh.) (23), from Nablus’s Old City, after opening fire at him from an automatic weapon and wounding him in different parts of his body. (Z. Gh.) was left on the ground with his head covered, leading to his death.
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 21:35 on Saturday, 08 April 2023, five gunmen opened fire from a zero range at (Z. Gh.): 6 bullets hit his feet and one hit his head, killing him in front of al-Beek Gate in Nablus’s Old City. Afterwards, the Palestinian armed group “Lions’ Den” claimed responsibility for the incident in a statement and pledged to publish the details of (Z. Gh.)’s confessions.
In a footage circulating, (Z. Gh.) said that he was blackmailed by an Israeli intelligence officer to cooperate with them and was ordered to track members of Palestinian armed groups and report their moves; 3 of those members were assassinated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on 28 February 2022.
PCHR affirms that collaboration with the Israeli occupation constitutes a crime, considering collaborators partners with IOF in war crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), as they betray their country, people, and families. PCHR also calls upon the Palestinian Authority to prosecute them and bring them to a fair trial in order to receive their fair punishment.
At the same time, PCHR stresses that what the gunmen had done in Nablus violates the right to life and the right to a fair trial, as well as a serious breach of the rule of law.
PCHR warns of the recurrence of such incidents that may lead to a serious phenomenon, where people will take the law into their own hands and resort to the use of firearms, jeopardizing justice, and rule of law. PCHR also indicates that such incidents will pave the way for killing citizens under the pretext of collaboration without guaranteeing them the right to self-defense and without verifying these serious charges.
PCHR asserts that history proves that lawlessness and replacing law with use of firearms was behind the killing of many persons without real evidence that amounts to the serious nature of the charges against them. This has later opened the way to revenge and forced society into security chaos.
PCHR stresses that the proper way to prosecute suspected collaborators with the Israeli occupation is through legal procedures and a fair trial, where they are guaranteed full right to self-defense and then receive the appropriate punishment after being convicted before the court in accordance with the law.