Human rights group calls on UN to stop Israel’s systematic use of lethal force against Palestinians

A Geneva-based human rights group has appealed to the United Nations to put an end to Israel’s policy of using lethal force against Palestinians and ensure the regime’s accountability for the extrajudicial killings.

“The official instructions received by the Israeli army in dealing with Palestinian civilians led to the systematic use of lethal force, which caused a noticeable increase in incidents amounting to extrajudicial killings in the Palestinian territories,” Euro-Med Monitor said in a letter addressed to Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions.

Since the beginning of the current year, the Israeli military has killed nearly 53 Palestinians in the West Bank and East al-Quds, owing to the policy of excessive use of force against Palestinians, the letter said.

Israeli soldiers deliberately use lethal force against Palestinians, the letter said, citing the killing of Rafiq Riyad Ghannam in Jenin last week.

Last Wednesday, Israeli forces stormed east of Jaba’ town in Jenin, northern West Bank, raided a house, and shot dead Ghannam, 21, who came out of his house in his pajamas upon hearing a sound around the house.

The shooting incident reveals Israel’s policy of excessive use of force against unarmed civilians who, in many cases, do not constitute a danger that calls for the use of lethal force, the letter said.

“This appears to reflect official Israeli leniency given to the army when firing at Palestinians without urgent need,” the human rights group added.

The Israeli army’s shooting policy was already loose in the past and often led to extrajudicial killings without justification; however, the adoption of a new shooting policy in early 2021, made it even worse, giving Israeli soldiers in the West Bank the green light to open fire on Palestinians throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, according to the rights group.

The letter said the new instructions made pulling the trigger an easier matter for the soldiers, especially with the presence of official support to protect them from any accountability.

“The absence of domestic accountability in Israel and the international community's continued providence of impunity to Israeli authorities for the violations committed in the past” have enabled Israeli forces to use lethal force against civilians, the letter said.

The letter urged the UN to press Israel to abide by the organization’s resolution on “effective prevention and investigation of extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions.”

The resolution clearly states that “executions shall not be carried out under any circumstances including, but not limited to, situations of internal armed conflict, excessive or illegal use of force by a public official or other person acting in an official capacity or by a person acting at the instigation.”

The letter demanded that the UN Special Rapporteur and other concerned bodies follow up and investigate the killings of Palestinian civilians, protect them and take serious steps to ensure accountability for extrajudicial killings.

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