Israeli killing of Palestinian in Beita amounts to war crime, rights group says

A Palestinian rights group says the recent murder of a Palestinian youth in the occupied West Bank was a result of the use of excessive force by the Israeli military and amounts to war crime.

Faraan: According to Press TV, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in a report on Sunday held the Israeli regime fully and directly responsible for the crime, saying, “These crimes reflect the excessive use of force in circumstances where there was no imminent threat to the soldiers’ lives and prove Israeli lenient shooting standards against the Palestinian civilians,” the report said.

Elsewhere in the report, the rights organization noted that the murder of the Palestinian man under these circumstances amounts to war crime, urging the parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations to prosecute culprits of such crimes and guarantee Palestinian civilians’ right to protection in the Occupied Territories.

Israeli forces shot and martyred the young man during anti-settlement protests in Nablus. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the man succumbed to injuries he sustained on Sobeih Mountain in Beita, south of Nablus City, on Friday. The victim was identified as Jamil Abu Ayash, 31. He was shot in the head by Israeli forces.

According to the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service, four other Palestinians were hit by rubber bullets, while over 50 others suffered breathing difficulties due to inhaling tear gas used by the troops against the protesters.

Since May, Beita has seen intensified clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians protesting against a settlement outpost that has been established on Sobeih Mountain by settlers under the protection of Israeli forces. This victim was the ninth Palestinian shot and martyred by Israeli troops during suppression of peaceful protests in Beita village since the establishment of the settlement outpost.

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