Two of the most recent fatalities had been 16-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hamidat and 17-year-old Mohammed Musa Al Bitar, each shot “at a distance of about 70 metres whereas operating away after throwing stones and/or Molotov cocktails in the direction of a[n Israeli] navy submit outdoors a settlement close to Aqabat Jaber, CCTV footage exhibits”, mentioned the Excessive Commissioner’s Workplace, OHCHR.
The kids’ deaths, together with the killings of 4 extra Palestinians by the Israeli military on Monday, brings the Palestinian toll to 505, since Hamas-led terror assaults in southern Israel sparked the battle in Gaza, OHCHR mentioned.
In the identical interval, 24 Israelis together with eight who had been Israeli Safety Forces members, had been killed within the West Financial institution and Israel in clashes or alleged assaults by Palestinians from the West Financial institution.
‘Unprecedented bloodshed’
“As if the tragic occasions in Israel after which Gaza over the previous eight months weren’t sufficient, the folks of the occupied West Financial institution are additionally being subjected to day-after-day of unprecedented bloodshed. It’s unfathomable that so many lives have been taken in such a wanton vogue,” the Excessive Commissioner mentioned.
“The killing, destruction and widespread human rights violations are unacceptable, and should stop instantly. Israel should not solely undertake however implement guidelines of engagement which can be absolutely according to relevant human rights norms and requirements,” Mr. Türk continued. “Any allegation of illegal killings should be completely and independently investigated and these accountable held to account.”
Deadly pressure, the primary resort
The UN rights chief famous that the killing of Palestinians had already reached a “file excessive” within the first 9 months of final yr, solely to rise “sharply” after the 7 October assaults by Hamas-led fighters that left some 1,250 useless and greater than 250 taken hostage.
“Because the begin of 2024, virtually 200 Palestinians have been killed by the ISF, in contrast with 113 and 50 killed in the identical intervals in 2023 and 2022 respectively,” the assertion from the UN rights chief’s workplace mentioned.
And regardless of the absence of armed hostilities within the occupied West Financial institution, the ISF carried out at the least 29 operations “involving airstrikes by unmanned aerial automobiles or planes and the firing of ground-to-ground missiles on refugee camps and different densely populated areas”, it continued.
Throughout these operations, 164 Palestinians had been killed, together with 35 kids, in line with OHCHR, which pointed to a “prevalence” of Palestinian victims shot within the higher a part of the physique and denied medical help.
This means “intent to kill in violation of the precise to life, fairly than a graduated utility of pressure and an try to de-escalate tense conditions…in circumstances the place these shot clearly didn’t characterize an imminent risk to life”, the UN rights workplace mentioned.
