Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian in West Bank
-23 March 2020Even amidst an unprecedented global pandemic, Israel’s occupation forces continue their violence against Palestinians.
Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian man in the head near the entrance of the occupied West Bank village of Nilin on Sunday.
The Israeli army claimed that Sufian Khawaja was hurling stones at vehicles when he was shot dead.
Pictures of Khawaja and his family were circulated by Palestinian media:
Another Palestinian, said to be Khawaja’s cousin, was reportedly injured in the same incident but escaped.
A vehicle was damaged, according to The Times of Israel, but no Israelis were reported injured, as in many previous cases in which an alleged Palestinian attacker was killed.
Israeli forces reportedly prevented an ambulance from reaching Khawaja to provide treatment. Occupation forces habitually deny first aid to Palestinians they shoot, causing them to bleed to death.
The Palestinian Authority foreign ministry condemned the killing of Khawaja, saying Israel has turned its soldiers into “mobile killing machines, and defenseless Palestinian civilians into targets for shooting and training.”
The ministry said it will pursue Khawaja’s killing and other crimes at the International Criminal Court and the Human Rights Council.
“The horror of this crime stands out amidst the coronavirus pandemic,” the ministry stated.
Despite such condemnations, the Palestinian Authority has since its founding in the early 1990s maintained close cooperation with Israeli occupation forces, under the banner of “security coordination.”
Both major Palestinian political factions – Fatah, which dominates the Palestinians Authority, and Hamas, the resistance organization running the interior of the besieged Gaza Strip – condemned the slaying.
Israel is now withholding Khawaja’s body.
Israel routinely withholds the remains of Palestinians slain by occupation forces to use them as bargaining chips in future negotiations and as collective punishment.
Meanwhile, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian vehicle with stones on Monday, smashing its windows, near the northern West Bank town of Silat al-Dahr.
Settlers enjoy near-total impunity for violence against Palestinians and their property.
Raids and arrests
Meanwhile, Israel is escalating its incursions in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh despite the global health crisis.
Israel intensified its assaults on Issawiyeh residents last summer, conducting raids, arbitrary arrests, demolitions and routine harassment of the neighborhood’s residents.
Border police and army soldiers habitually conduct raids and arrest children, interrogating them without family members or attorneys present:
قوات الاحتلال تعتقل الطفل "رضا محمد عيسى عبيد" من بلدة العيسوية شرق القدس pic.twitter.com/FQLmOykXrj— وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) March 23, 2020
Now, abuse by Israeli police is “a permanent feature of life in the neighborhood,” according to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
Recent raids particularly jeopardize public health in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“At this sensitive time, such conduct exposes residents to substantial, completely unnecessary health risks, as it encourages gatherings and forces arrested residents, including many minors, to leave home and be around strangers,” B’Tselem said.
Demolitions
While the Israeli government takes new measures to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak, it still has the will and finds the resources to oppress Palestinians.
