Israeli soldiers pushed 4 apparently lifeless bodies from roofs during a West Bank raid

QABATIYA, West Bank (AP) — Israeli soldiers pushed four apparently lifeless bodies from rooftops during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene and videos obtained by AP. The Israeli military said in a statement to AP that the incident, which it said would be reviewed, “does not coincide with (its) values and the expectations from (its) soldiers.” A White House spokesperson called it “deeply disturbing,” and said Israel has pledged to investigate. Residents of Qabatiya told AP the military later took custody of the four bodies, claims the military did not immediately comment on. One of the people dropped from a roof was identified by a relative and Israel as Shadi Zakarneh, who the military said was a militant leader in the town. Since the war in Gaza began over 11 months ago, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, shot and arrested in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has waged a crackdown on militants linked to Hamas and other militant groups. In one video obtained by AP, three soldiers can be seen picking up what appears to be a stiff body and then dragging it toward the edge of a multi-story roof as troops stand on the ground below. On an adjacent rooftop, another video obtained by AP shows soldiers pushing three bodies from the roof. “The bulldozer carried them and they took them without letting us say goodbye to them or to do a funeral for them,” said Amjad Abu al-Roub, a resident of Qabatiya who witnessed the raid. Al-Roub, who witnessed the attack, said Israeli forces stormed the town around 11:30 a.m., prompting a gunfight between Palestinians and the forces that killed four. At a funeral for three Palestinian men killed in the raid — those whose bodies were not taken by the military — gunmen wearing caps bearing the insignia of Islamic Jihad’s Qabatiya brigade could be seen alongside crowds of mourners. At least one body was wrapped in the flag of Islamic Jihad, a radical Islamist militant group that operates in Gaza and the West Bank. Hussein Zakarneh, 62, said one of the people pushed off of a roof was his nephew, Shadi Zakarneh, who he said was wanted by Israel and had previously spent time in an Israeli prison. “He wanted to become a martyr,” Zakarneh said of his nephew. When withdrawing from raids, the Israeli army usually leaves behind any Palestinians killed by gunfire. 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 said the treatment of the bodies was shocking but not surprising, and he was doubtful Israel would properly investigate the incident. The Israeli military rarely prosecutes soldiers in cases of reported harm to Palestinians, rights groups say. “The most that will happen is that soldiers will be disciplined, but there will be no real investigation and no real prosecution,” said Jabarin. Later that night, the military said it struck a car in Qabatiya, killing three militants. The military released a grainy aerial video appearing to show a group of four men exiting a car, one firing two shots. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said that Israeli gunfire during the raid sent 10 Palestinians to the hospital, but all were in stable condition. At least 716 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since the war erupted on Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The northern West Bank, where Qabatiya is located, has seen some of the worst violence since the war’s outbreak. In that time, Palestinian gunmen have attacked Israelis at checkpoints and staged several attacks within Israel. Earlier this month, Israel staged its deadliest raid into the northern West Bank since the war began, killing at least 33 people. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://apnews.com/ae65d70f7da5db4603ba1b7c77f2ccd3