Gerusalemme Est occupata: lei ha 16 anni,20 colpi di fucile , un coltello. Una foto
forze israeliane uccidono una ragazza palestinese di 16 anni a Gerusalemme Est per un preteso tentativo di accoltellamento
maannews.com
B'Tselem denounces Israel for unjustified killing of Palestinian teen in Jerusalem
16-year-old Fatima Hjeiji, moments after she was shot multiple times by Israeli forces
Eyewitnesses
told Ma’an at the time that Hjeiji had been standing more than ten
meters away from a group of Israeli border guard soldiers, when one of
them shouted “Knife! Knife!” Moments later, five soldiers opened fire at
her, shooting her with some 10 to 20 bullets.
The account was corroborated by B’Tselem,
which, after conducting inquiries into the incident, stated that
“Hjeiji, who stopped several meters away from the officers, did not pose
a danger to (Israeli forces).”
As witnesses had highlighted to Ma’an at the time, some of the police forces' bullets also hit a nearby taxi.
“The
police -- who were standing behind a metal barrier, were armed and
wearing protective gear -- could have subdued Hjeiji and taken her into
custody without resorting to gunfire, certainly not lethal gunfire.
Instead, they shot and killed a 16-year-old girl,” B’Tselem said.
B’Tselem
noted that Israel’s Jerusalem District Police Commander Major General
Yoram Halevy defended the shooting as lawful and appropriate. Israeli
police spokespersons at the time said the officers had acted
“determinedly and professionally” when they killed the teenager.
“The
District Commander’s statement completely ignores the facts of the
case: Hjeiji’s youth, the fact that she stood motionless, the short
distance between her and the officers, the metal barrier separating her
from the officers, and the obvious conclusion -- that the officers shot
and killed her when she posed no threat to them,” B’Tselem wrote.
“This
statement, like similar sentiments expressed by other senior ranking
officials and a mood of general hostility ever since October 2015,
encourages security personnel to shoot to kill even in cases such as
this, where lethal measures are unwarranted,” the human rights
organization argued.
“This
is no isolated incident,” B’Tselem affirmed, echoing numerous the
numerous cases in which Israeli forces have been condemned for carrying
out a “shoot-to-kill” policy of Palestinians who could have easily been
disarmed and detained without being shot to death by Israeli forces.
A photo of Fatima Hjeiji shared on social media.
An Israeli settler was shot and killed
earlier this month at a military checkpoint, who Israeli police
initially mistook for a Palestinian. About a month ago, almost at the
very spot where Hjeiji was killed, and under similar circumstances,
Israeli forces shot and killed 49-year-old Siham Nimr, who allegedly brandished a pair of scissors at them from the other side of the police barricade.
“The
continued policy of fatally shooting Palestinians who do not pose a
mortal danger illustrates the manifest discrepancy between the
recognized and accepted principle that prohibits such use of gunfire,
and a reality in which shoot-to-kill incidents are a frequent occurrence
and are encouraged by senior officials and wide public support,”
B’Tselem concluded in their report.
Israel has routinely denied it carries out unlawful killings as a matter of policy. However, an event recently held for children by Israeli police demonstrated how to “take over a terrorist" in a dramatic reenactment, showing Israeli police officers pulling up on motorcycles and immediately opening fire on an “assailant” with dozens of live rounds.
Meanwhile, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross's delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) Jacques De Maio also denied that Israel implemented a shoot-to-kill policy against Palestinians in a recent interview, when he also denied that Israel fits the label of an apartheid state, despite the ICRC's alleged role as an “impartial humanitarian mediator."
His comments sparked outrage among Palestinians, and came in stark contrast to the positions of groups like B'Tselem and Human Rights Watch.
A report released
by Human Rights Watch days in January documented “numerous statements”
made by senior Israeli politicians and religious figures “calling on
police and soldiers to shoot to kill suspected attackers, irrespective
of whether lethal force is actually strictly necessary to protect life.”
HRW
noted that Israel’s shoot-to-kill policy has received widespread
support among Israeli citizens, citing a 2016 poll by the Israel
Democracy Institute which found that 47 percent of Jewish Israelis
supported the sentiment that “any Palestinian who carries out a terror
attack against Jews should be killed on the spot, even if he has been
captured and clearly does not pose a threat.”
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