Israeli Soldier’s Cold-Blooded Murder of Palestinian Draws Condemnation
An Israeli soldier executed, on Friday, a Palestinian youth in the West Bank city of Nablus following a short scuffle between them, eyewitnesses said.
The Israeli soldier carried out the execution at point-blank range, in the centre of Huwwara, to the south of Nablus.
A video footage of the shooting has been posted on social media. It shows the Israeli soldier trying to arrest him. But when the Palestinian youth refused and pushed the soldier away from himself, the soldier's automatic rifle fell down and he used his pistol to execute him.
The youth was identified as Hamdy Mefleh, 22, from the village of Osrin to the south of Nablus.
Wafa news agency reported that the Israeli Occupation soldiers, who were watching the execution, prevented residents and ambulances from providing aid to the youth as he was still alive.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Israel's General Authority for Civil Affairs reported that the youth died of his critical wounds.
Hamas: Israel will pay the price
Palestinian resistance groups have also condemned the attack, stressing the need to continue resistance against occupiers.
In a statement, the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement said the cold-blooded killing of the Palestinian man showed the aggressive and fascist behavior of the occupation and its forces.
It noted that the “Zionist enemy will pay the price for its crime.”
Tareq Ezz al-Din, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, said what the Israeli soldier did today was a “full-fledged war crime” that the whole world witnessed, adding that it proves the extent of crimes carried out by the Israeli regime against defenseless Palestinians.
He noted that silence in the face of such a crime amounts to being complicit in shedding the blood of Palestinian people.
UN official says ‘horrified’ by the scene
Tor Wennesland, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said yesterday that he was horrified by the scene of an Israeli soldier killing a Palestinian in the town of Hawwara, near Nablus.
“Horrified by today’s killing of a Palestinian man, Ammar Mefleh, during a scuffle with an Israeli soldier near Huwwara in the occupied West Bank,” wrote Wennesland in a tweet, stressing, “Such incidents must be fully and promptly investigated, and those responsible held accountable.”
EU expresses grave concern
The European Union said it was gravely concerned about Israel's excessive use of lethal force against the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
"Gravely concerned about the increasing level of violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem," said the EU in a tweet making reference to the Israeli army killing of 10 Palestinians in the last 72 hours alone, "in what appears to be an excessive use of lethal force," adding, "2022 is the deadliest year since 2006, with 140 Palestinians killed."
The EU said, "According to international law, use of lethal force is strictly limited to situations in which there exists a serious and imminent threat to life and limb. Civilian casualties must be investigated and accountability ensured."
Palestinian PM: Crime reflects ‘organized racism’
Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said that the crime reflects the organized racism practiced by the occupation soldiers.
Shtayyeh expressed his utmost shock and anger over the heartbreaking video footage of the youth being fatally shot at point-blank by an Israeli soldier.
He said that Israeli soldiers feel assured that they will not be held accountable for their crimes which encourages them to repeat such crimes.
Shtayyeh warned of the dangerous consequences of these horrific crimes, calling on the world countries to promptly intervene to stop the crimes committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people and urging the International Criminal Court to speed up holding perpetrators accountable.
Site: Agencies
