TEL AVIV, March 30, 2010 (WAFA) – Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem said that its investigation on the killing on March 20, of two Palestinians in the West Bank village of Iraq Burin near Nablus blatantly contradicts with the announcement of the Israeli army on the event.

On the day of the event, the army Spokesperson announced that Israeli forces that had come to the village encountered a crowd of Palestinians who threw stones at them. According to the announcement, the forces had responded with means for dispersing demonstrators, which included the firing of rubber-coated metal bullets, and saw that two Palestinians who had been injured were evacuated. The announcement stressed that the forces had not used live ammunition, and that the Palestinians had been struck by rubber-coated metal bullets that were fired in accordance with procedures.

The findings of B'Tselem's investigation blatantly contradict this announcement.

First, they indicate that only a handful of people were standing on the main road where Muhammad and Usaid Qadus were shot, and that the most of the demonstration had taken place in the eastern section of the village, in the hours preceding the event. Furthermore, even if stones were indeed thrown at soldiers in the western section, Muhammad and Usaid had stood some 100 meters from the forces û clearly in no position to pose a grave threat to their lives.

Second, the medical findings raise grave suspicion that the two were struck by live fire. An X-ray of Usaid's head, which shows the bullet lodged inside his head, and photographs of the entry and exit wounds in Muhammad's body indicate that the two were not struck by rubber-coated metal bullets. These findings raise serious doubts regarding the IDF Spokesperson's statement that only rubber-coated bullets had been used. In addition, eyewitnesses gave testimony to B'Tselem that during the demonstration, the forces had fired live bullets too.

 B'Tselem's findings generated media discussion of the event. On 23 March, the IDF Spokesperson announced that the judge advocate general, Maj. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, had ordered a Military Police investigation into the circumstances of the incident. This decision is exceptional as in the vast majority of cases in which security forces kill Palestinians, the army refuses to open a Military Police investigation and suffices with an operational debriefing carried out by the unit in charge of the incident.

B'Tselem wrote to the office of the Judge Advocate for Operational Affairs, suggesting that the organization give the Military Police its investigative findings and information relating to the incident.