 "WATCH: Israeli troops reportedly throw lifeless bodies from rooftop in West Bank")
Amid the brewing tensions in the West Bank, a concerning video circulated online in which Israeli soldiers were seen pushing three apparently lifeless bodies from a rooftop during a raid in the northern part of the Palestinian region. The video was shared by an Associated Press journalist who claimed that the incident took place on Thursday.
The journalist was in the town of Qabatiya when he saw the Israeli soldiers pushing the bodies off the roofs of adjacent multi-story buildings, sending them falling out of view. Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, the West Bank has witnessed its own share of violence and atrocities at the hands of the Israeli settlers and military.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) released a statement on the matter, in which they stated that the incident goes against the values of the Israeli forces. “This is a serious incident that does not coincide with IDF values and the expectations from IDF soldiers,” the military said in a statement. “The incident is under review.”
An unusual act
The Israeli troops maintained that they had killed four militants during operations in Qabatiya on Thursday. Other journalists at the scene confirmed that they witnessed the bodies being pushed out of the rooftop. However, the incident left many by surprise.
When withdrawing after the raid, the Israeli forces usually left behind any Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire. Occasionally, the army brings dead bodies into Israel. Not only this but under international law, soldiers are supposed to ensure that the dead bodies, including those of enemy combatants, should be treated decently. Hence, if this video is proven to be accurate, the Israeli forces will be breaking a major international law.
The identities of the dead and the cause of their deaths are still not clear. “There is no military need to do this. It’s just a savage way of treating Palestinian bodies,” said Shawan Jabarin, the director of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, after watching the footage. Jabarin lamented how the Israeli forces might not witness significant punishment if found guilty.
“The most that will happen is that soldiers will be disciplined, but there will be no real investigation and no real prosecution,” said Jabarin. Meanwhile, Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Husam Zomlot, shared the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, and called out Israel’s usual argument of having the right to “self-defence”.
“Israeli occupation soldiers throw injured men from a rooftop in Qabatiya outside Jenin in the occupied West Bank earlier today. This is Israel’s ‘self-defence’,” he wrote on X.
With inputs from the Associated Press.
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