HEBRON, February 13, 2016 (WAFA) – A Palestinian young woman Saturday was shot dead by Israeli armed soldiers near al-Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron, after an alleged stabbing attack, according to local sources.
Sources informed WAFA that Israeli forces fired several bullets at 18-year-old Kilzar Mohammed Abdel-Halim al-‘Ewaiwi at the entrance of Bab al-Khan area, near the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron, and left her to bleed on the ground until she succumbed to her critical wounds.
Israeli army claimed that the girl carried out an alleged stabbing attack against an Israeli soldier.
This brings up the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces’ fire since the outbreak of violence in the Palestinian Territory, Gaza, and Israel in early October 2015, to 171.
Israeli has been criticized for its reflexive use of lethal force and “extrajudicial killings” when Palestinian alleged attackers no longer pose an immediate threat. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that circumstances surrounding such killings over the past months remain disputed.
According to a report issued by various human rights organizations in Israel and published on B’Tselem website, an Israeli human rights center, “In instances when Jews have been suspected of attacks, none of the suspects has been shot.”
“No-one disputes the serious nature of the events of recent days, nor the need to protect the public against stabbing and other attacks. However, it seems that too often, instead of acting in a manner consistent with the nature of each incident, police officers and soldiers are quick to shoot to kill,” said the center.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said in a statement that, Israeli forces – using intentional lethal force without justification – must end the pattern of unlawful killings carried out against Palestinians. Based on the findings of an ongoing research trip to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the organization documented in depth at least four incidents in which Palestinians were deliberately shot dead by Israeli forces when they posed no imminent threat to life, in what it said, ‘appear to have been extrajudicial executions.’
In some cases, the person shot was left bleeding to death on the ground and was not given prompt medical assistance, in violation of the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment, said the center.
“Intentional lethal force should only be used when absolutely necessary to protect life. Instead we are increasingly seeing Israeli forces recklessly flouting international standards by shooting to kill in situations where it is completely unjustified,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
In the meantime, The Palestinians Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs’ Commission maintained, in a report, that Israeli forces executed Palestinians in ‘cold-blood’ and on the grounds of mere suspicion, maintaining that forces acted as both judges and executioners.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said in this regard, “There is no dispute as to the severity of the incidents and the need to protect the public from stabbings and other assaults. However, it appears that in too many cases, rather than acting in a manner that was appropriate for each incident, police officers and soldiers were quick to open fire in order to kill.”
T.R.
