HEBRON, July 23, 2015 (WAFA) –
Israeli army and undercover forces Thursday raided a house in Beit Ummar, north
of Hebron, and shot dead an unarmed Palestinian elderly and injured his son
with live bullets, according to local and medical sources.
Activists told WAFA that an
Israeli army force raided a house in the town before dawn and shot Mohammad Abu
Maria, 22, and his brother, Ahmad, 25, with live bullets.
Their father, Falah Abu Maria, 52, the
sources added, attempted to provide first aid to his injured sons when the
soldiers unjustifiably shot him with two live bullets in the chest, killing him
instantly.
The attacking force initially
attempted to arrest both Mohammad and Ahmad Abu Maria, but they later resorted
to the use of live fire for no justified reason.
Commenting on this extrajudicial killing, Presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudainah, in a follow-up statement, said Israel’s ongoing killing of Palestinians aims to create a state of instability and tension in the region.
Qaddura Fares, chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners’
Club (PPC), described the murder of Abu Maria, who is also a former prisoner in
Israeli jails, as a war crime and a blatant violation of international
treaties.
He confirmed that the
Palestinian side will document this incident and refer it along with other
cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold Israel accountable for
its systematic violations against unarmed Palestinians.
B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights
organizations, said that Israeli army’s frequent use of live ammunition, in
breach of open-fire regulations, shows that “it is a not a matter of
exceptional incidents but rather the implementation of an unlawful policy.”
In the first three months of
this year, at least 30 children across the West Bank and East Jerusalem
sustained gunshot wounds when Israeli forces used live ammunition to quash
protests, according to Defense for Children International.
Also in 2014, Israeli forces
killed at least 11 Palestinian children with live ammunition across the
occupied West Bank and in East Jerusalem.
“Live ammunition is routinely
used against children by Israeli policemen and soldiers, despite the Israeli
military’s own regulations permitting its use only in circumstances in which a
direct, mortal threat is posed to a soldier,” DCI-Palestine states.
DCI-Palestine’s director of
accountability Ayed Abu Eqtaish said earlier this year, “Israeli soldiers and
police use excessive force systematically and with almost complete impunity
against Palestinian youth… This tragedy comes on the heels of at least thirty
children who have sustained injuries from the use of live ammunition so far
this year.”
M.N/M.H
