Israeli forces shove at least four men off West Bank roof, videos show

At least three Israel Defense Forces soldiers dropped, pushed and shoved four men over the side of a two-story building Thursday in the town of Qabatiya near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, a Post analysis of nearly a dozen videos and photos showed. The incident came after an Israeli raid targeting militants in the area that included at least one exchange of fire near the building, which sits just behind two school buildings. The IDF, asked to comment on the footage, said in a statement: “This is a serious incident that does not coincide with IDF values and the expectations from IDF soldiers. The incident is under review.” The IDF declined to comment further when asked about the military’s protocol regarding the movement of someone injured or killed by Israeli fire, why the soldiers shoved the people off the building or whether they checked for vital signs before shoving the people from the roof. Advertisement The IDF had said in a statement Thursday that its troops fatally shot four “terrorists” in Qabatiya that day as part of a “large-scale operation.” It did not respond to a request for comment on whether the four people killed were the men who were shoved off the roof. Sometime before 12:19 p.m. local time Thursday, a man dressed in black and carrying a weapon moved quickly across the building’s roof, video published to X shows. Over the course of a minute-and-a-half video, the soldiers lift a man wearing a white T-shirt upside down and hold him over the building’s edge. Advertisement “The conduct shown in the videos is manifestly unlawful,” Adil Haque, an expert on international law at Rutgers University said. “Killing any person incapacitated by wounds, or mistreating their dead body, violates international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime in the context of a military occupation,” he added. Brian Finucane, a senior adviser at Crisis Group who previously served at the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. State Department, agreed, noting that “outrages against personal dignity — including against the deceased — can amount to a war crime,” in an occupied territory. According to the IDF’s mission statement, Israeli soldiers must “maintain their humanity during combat and routine times. The soldier will not use their weapon or power to harm uninvolved civilians and prisoners and will do everything in their power to prevent harm to their lives, bodies, dignity and property.” Advertisement “Of course it’s against the ethical code of the IDF,” said Nadav Weiman, a former Israeli army sniper who leads Breaking the Silence, an anti-occupation veterans’ group that gathers testimony from soldiers assigned to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. “But that was thrown out the window years ago.” Weiman noted that in Gaza, the IDF has been accused of mistreating Palestinian bodies in a number of incidents. Kirby added that should the video be “proven to be authentic, it clearly would depict abhorrent and egregious behavior by professional soldiers.” He said the United States pressed Israeli officials for more details and were promised a thorough investigation into the matter. Advertisement The conduct of Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank has previously been criticized by the international community, including by the United States. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/20/israel-soldiers-west-bank-roof-bodies-video/