The #Israeli military says it has opened an investigation after videos show soldiers pushing what appear to be dead bodies off a roof in the occupied #WestBank during a raid against Palestinian militants.https://t.co/UPj1G8AeUZ
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 20, 2024
The Israeli military said on Friday it had opened an investigation after videos showed soldiers pushing what appear to be dead bodies off a roof in the occupied West Bank during a raid against Palestinian militants.
The videos, which began circulating online on Thursday, showed three soldiers on the roof of a building in the town of Qabatiya, dragging, pushing, throwing and in one case kicking what appear to be dead men off the edge.
Zakaria Zakarneh, the uncle of one of the men, said he saw what had happened. Israeli soldiers had gone to the roof after the Palestinians were killed, he told Reuters.
“They tried to move the bodies down with a bulldozer but it didn’t work so they threw them from the second floor down to the ground,” he said. “I was in pain, very sad and angry I was unable to do anything,” Zakarneh said.
Pretend they were gay, Zakaria. Then you would be happy?
Reuters was able to confirm the location of the video as Qabatiya and confirm the date from eyewitness accounts and video filmed by local Palestinian news organizations showing the same scene.
The Israeli military said in a statement the incident was serious and was not in keeping with its values.
The US said it had seen the video and immediately reached out to Israeli authorities, who promised to investigate and ensure accountability.
“We found it deeply disturbing. If it’s proven to be authentic, it clearly would depict abhorrent and egregious behaviour by professional soldiers,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a briefing.
STFU Kirby. Remember: "Obviously no use in responding. A ‘handful’ of vets indeed and all of one stripe," Kirby said in the email chain.?
In a separate statement, the Israeli military said that on Thursday its soldiers had killed seven militants in gun battles and an airstrike in Qabatiya.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza nearly a year ago, with almost daily sweeps by Israeli forces that have involved thousands of arrests and regular gun battles between security forces and Palestinian fighters, as well as attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian communities.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
During the firefight, the IDF said commandos from the Duvdevan unit used a tactic known as "pressure cooker" that involves escalating the volume of fire directed at a building to force a suspect to come out.
Three assault rifles and other weapons were seized from their bodies, the IDF said.
The IDF said that one of those killed in Qabatiya was Shadi Zakarneh, and identified him as "responsible for directing and carrying out attacks in the northern West Bank area."
It said he was "the head of the terrorist organization" in Qabatiya but did not specify which group he belonged to.
Photos captured by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named during the raid showed an IDF bulldozer moving near the building where the bodies were dropped.
When withdrawing from raids, the army usually leaves behind any Paleostinians killed by Israeli fire, though it occasionally brings dead bodies into Israel.
Under international law, soldiers are supposed to ensure dead bodies, including those of enemy combatants, are treated decently.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 5,000 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,000 affiliated with Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,....
According to the Paleostinian Authority’s health ministry, more than 670 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or faceless myrmidons carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 33 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.