Israel/OPT: Suspected extrajudicial execution of Palestinian caught on video
| Publisher | Amnesty International |
| Publication Date | 24 March 2016 |
| Cite as | Amnesty International, Israel/OPT: Suspected extrajudicial execution of Palestinian caught on video, 24 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb91a14.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
An Israeli soldier has been filmed shooting dead a Palestinian man in Hebron as he lay wounded on the ground following his alleged role in a knife attack earlier today.
The man, Abed al-Fatah al-Sharif, was one of two Palestinians believed to have been involved in the stabbing of an Israeli soldier. Footage of the shooting was released by the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem.
"The shooting of a wounded and incapacitated person, even if they have been involved in an attack, has absolutely no justification and must be prosecuted as a potential war crime," said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
"Israeli forces have a long history of carrying out unlawful killings – including extrajudicial executions – in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with impunity. Amnesty International has documented a number of similar cases during the upsurge in violence that began in October.
"While it is encouraging that the soldier in the video has reportedly been suspended and placed under investigation, previous Israeli investigations have failed to hold members of the Israeli forces accountable even when there has been clear evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The Israeli authorities must use this opportunity to end the culture of impunity that has made such killings increasingly commonplace."
