Human Rights and Democracy Media Center “SHAMS” received with anger and strong condemnation the new instructions issued by the leadership of the Israeli occupation army to its soldiers, which add further easing of the restrictions on shooting stone-throwers in the West Bank. According to the new instructions, the occupation army allowed its soldiers to shoot at stone-throwers even after they stopped throwing them and while they were withdrawing from the place. These are written instructions that were circulated to the occupation army after Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi approved the shooting instructions. This step was widely welcomed by Israeli politicians, including the extremist Prime Minister “Naftali Bennett”, which, although expected, confirms the depth of right-wing extremism in the Israeli political class, and the entrenchment of racism in the Israeli collective mind, and expresses very clearly racial discrimination and contempt for the blood of the Palestinians. As a direct result of the policy of impunity, and the international community’s neglect of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, liberation, sovereignty, and building their independent state.
There were (18) cases of shooting that resulted in a field Execution that led to death or seriously injured the victims occurred in the last two years at the hands of the occupation soldiers without bringing anyone to a serious trial. The majority of these cases were closed because the data collected did not justify legal action even though many of the victims were children and adolescents and that in some cases the videos documented deliberate executions. The facts of the field follow-up carried out by the “SHAMS” Center also indicated that the occupation forces obliterated and concealed evidence, taking advantage of their control over the place and their ability to prevent media coverage in most cases.
“SHAMS” Center points out, in particular, the incident of executing the wounded young man, “Muhammad Shawkat Salima” (25), from the city of Salfit in the northern West Bank, who was executed in cold blood and from zero distance in the “Bab Al-Amoud” area in the occupied city of Jerusalem weeks ago, which received shameful official support from the Israeli government, before the two soldiers involved in his execution were released. This incident reminds us of the cold-blooded execution of the wounded young man “Abdel-Fattah Al-Sharif”, who was shot dead by the Israeli soldier “Elor Azaria” in “Tel Armeida” in the city of Hebron when he was wounded on the ground and could not move on 3/24/2016 so that the Israeli prosecution had to bring the murdered soldier to trial as a result of the spread of a video documenting the crime of field execution, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, of which he spent only 9 months, with reduced conditions that allowed him to visit home and celebrate with his family the holidays, and then he was released and given his financial rewards. This confirms that the Israeli judicial system is part of the colonial system and is involved in whitewashing the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinians. This behavior is repeated systematically, which confers responsibility on the field soldiers on the one hand, and the higher commanding bodies and policymakers at the highest level in the occupation army on the other hand.
“SHAMS” Center stresses that the occupation has always targeted everything that is Palestinian and considered it a legitimate target, which constitutes part of the organized state terrorism, and violates the rules of weapons used in the regular armies, which range in cases of imminent danger. The soldier shouts, in the language the person understands, to get his attention; If he does not pay attention and continues to approach and poses a danger to him, fire bullets in the air in order to frighten him; Then if the serious danger is not over; A soldier can shoot at his feet to immobilize him, but not kill him; Then he must provide medical assistance to the injured. What makes the field Executions carried out by the occupation soldiers without any danger to them and in light of their ability to neutralize the wounded very easily, a mere violation of international humanitarian law without observing the principles of necessity, consistency, and training, and calls
for accountability. Accordingly, the “SHAMS Center recommends the following:
1. Benefiting from Palestinian accession to the Geneva Conventions by pressing towards urging the States committed to the convention to exercise their duties to compel Israel, as an occupying power, to respect international law, in accordance with Common Article 1, which states: “The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect this Convention and to ensure respect for it in them anyway.”
2. Providing political support and an economic umbrella for the International Criminal Court, and support for its investigations into Israeli war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory, especially by European Union countries.
3. Intensify human rights organizations and local and international human rights defenders to document, monitor, and follow up on Palestinian human rights, publish them, report violations, and mobilize the necessary support and advocacy.
4. The Palestinian diplomacy to work hard, in cooperation with friendly countries, to revive international legitimacy resolutions regarding the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and independence, and to expose violations by “Israel”, of international law and human rights law.
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