Occupied Jerusalem

- The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B'Tselem, issued a report on Monday showing that Israeli soldiers deliberately fire live bullets at Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in a "normal" manner, without posing any danger to the Palestinians being targeted. against the occupation forces, without there being any incidents or confrontations that call for shooting.

The publication of the human rights report - which relies on the testimonies of eyewitnesses and family members of some of those who were shot dead by the occupation soldiers - came after the occupation army issued new instructions to the soldiers to facilitate the process of opening fire and pressing the trigger towards the Palestinians who throw stones and Molotov cocktails.

The new instructions also enable the soldiers to shoot live fire even after the events have ended and during the withdrawal of young men from the scene of the confrontations, as the instructions circulated as a written document to the occupation forces stipulate that “shooting must be made in the combat zone.”

Last November, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, Aviv Kohavi, approved the amendments to the shooting regulations, under the pretext of the escalation of armed operations and the escalation of tension in the West Bank.

According to B'Tselem's report, the firing of live bullets and lethal fire by Israeli soldiers towards Palestinians is one of the aspects of the shooting policy applied and adopted by the occupying forces in the West Bank. Only, in which there may be a real danger.

Occupation soldiers on high alert in the Old City of Hebron (Al-Jazeera)

stone throwing

The Human Rights Center relied on eyewitnesses’ testimonies to reinforce what was stated in its report that Israeli soldiers shoot live bullets at Palestinians in areas of confrontation as a normal and routine procedure. It cited in its report the death of the 15-year-old boy, Muhammad Dadis, from the Askar refugee camp (Qada’a). Nablus), who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier.

According to testimonies collected by B'Tselem from eyewitnesses, on Friday, November 5, 4 boys from Askar camp - including the boy Muhammad Da'dis - went out to the eastern outskirts of Deir al-Hatab village near the girls' school.

In the place where the four young men arrived, confrontations took place between Palestinian youths and the occupation soldiers. About 25 soldiers from the occupation army were present, and they were spread among the olive trees, and about 30 young men were throwing stones at them.

About 10 minutes after the arrival of the four boys to the area where the confrontations took place - according to eyewitness accounts - one of the soldiers was hit with a stone in the face. He died shortly after his arrival.

In their testimony to B'Tselem, eyewitnesses confirmed that "the fatal shooting of Daads was not to avoid a threat to the soldiers' lives as a result of throwing stones, but rather in response to the shooting of the soldier who was hit with a stone and the youths mocked him."

The Israeli occupation forces in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood (Al-Jazeera)

fatal bullet

The boy, Hani Shalabi, 14, who was accompanied by the martyr Daads, said, "When we reached the school, I advanced to where the stone-throwers gathered, and Muhammad and Jihad remained standing watching the events from afar."

In his testimony to B'Tselem, Shalabi added, "In the midst of the stone-throwing, a stone hit a soldier in the face. He was standing with another soldier about 50 meters away from us. I did not see blood on his face, but I saw him touch his forehead with his hand."

At that moment - according to Shalabi in his testimony - "everyone started laughing, and then the soldier fired one shot. I heard Muhammad groaning in pain, and when I looked at him, I found him lying on the ground with blood bleeding from his stomach."

Jihad - who was near the martyr Muhammad Da'dis - started screaming for help, and a young man came, followed by another young man. The two carried Muhammad and moved away with him a few dozen meters and laid him on the ground.

Before the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance arrived, a woman came out of her house to the sound of screaming and took Muhammad to the hospital in her car, where doctors declared him dead from his injuries.

New instructions to the occupation soldiers facilitating the shooting process towards the Palestinians (Al-Jazeera)

The martyr photographer

Another case documented by B'Tselem - which indicates that the policy of shooting at Palestinians by the occupation soldiers is a normal and routine procedure - which is the fact that the occupation soldiers shot live fire at the 15-year-old boy Imad Al-Hashash, from Balata refugee camp (Nablus district), while he was filming them from the roof of his house.

According to the facts of events compiled by B'Tselem based on eyewitness testimonies, at dawn on Tuesday 28 August, dozens of Israeli soldiers stormed Balata refugee camp and arrested a resident of the camp from his home. During the arrest, an exchange of fire took place between them and armed men. Palestinians, and after carrying out the arrest, the soldiers withdrew with the detainee, heading towards the exit of the camp.

About 30 meters from the house where the arrest took place, two brothers from the Al-Hashash family, Muhammad (19 years) and Imad (15 years), were standing on the roof of their three-storey house, and they were filming the soldiers withdrawing.

When the soldiers approached their house, a soldier fired a bullet that hit Imad in the head. He was subsequently taken to a hospital in Nablus, where doctors declared him dead. After the shooting, the soldiers threw two teargas canisters near the al-Hashash family's house and then left the camp.

Occupation soldiers now carry what can be considered a permit to kill (Al-Jazeera)

blurring the facts

B'Tselem said in its report that "lethal shooting is one of the aspects of the shooting policy applied by the Israeli security forces in the West Bank, as it is used as a semi-routine procedure and not only in special circumstances. It is an example of an imminent and real danger to life that cannot be avoided by other means." .

Following the death of the young Daads, there were reports in the Israeli media that the occupation army launched an internal investigation through the Military Police Investigations Unit. However, based on previous experiences, according to what B’Tselem reported in his report, it can be said that “this investigation, like hundreds of investigations that Conducted by the military before will not do justice to the victim and his family.”

The Human Rights Center clarified in its report that the occupation army's investigation into the files of soldiers firing live bullets and causing deaths and injuries among Palestinians "will not deter other soldiers from engaging in lethal violence against the Palestinians."

He justified this by saying that "the investigation procedures aim to obscure the facts instead of revealing them, and thus allow the Israeli security forces to continue to use lethal violence against the Palestinians."