June 11, 2018 at 3:16 pm Israeli occupation forces have admitted to killing a Palestinian man who soldiers accuse of throwing stones in Nabi Saleh, northwest of occupied Ramallah.

The incident, denounced on social media as another example of Israeli brutality, happened as Prime Minister Netanyahu touched down in Britain to salvage the country’s reputation following the killing of hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza by Israeli snipers.

 

Israeli occupation forces posted a tweet saying a Palestinian had hurled a “large rock” at its armed troops. It claimed a “riot” was instigated by more than ten Palestinians and a single rock was flung, leading to the forces using “riot dispersal means”.

 

"The rock was hurled during a riot, which more than 10 Palestinians instigated. IDF troops responded with riot dispersal means".

 

It then described how the a Palestinian “flanked the soldiers”.

 

"One of the Palestinians flanked the troops and hurled the rock, striking a soldier's head".

 

In response, one of the soldiers fired on the “suspect”. The Palestinian died as a result.

 

In response, the soldier who was hit by the rock fired towards the suspect, who was injured & given medical treatment at the scene. Despite this, the suspect died. No IDF troops were injured. The incident is being examined".

 

The incident sparked outrage on social media with people pointing out that what the Israelis called a “riot” were protest by people suffering for decades under an illegal immoral unjust brutal occupation.

 

Others described the dangerous pattern of wilful killing of Palestinians in the occupied territory.   “Right so the sentence for rock throwing now is the immediate death penalty without trial,” said one social media user in response to the tweet by the Israeli army.

 

Last weekend’s killing reflects a familiar story in the occupied territory. Human rights groups have accused Israeli forces of displaying a callous disregard for human life by killing dozens of Palestinian civilians, including children, in the occupied West Bank over the past years with near total impunity.

 

Amnesty’s report “Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank” described the mounting bloodshed and human rights abuses as a result of the Israeli forces’ use of unnecessary, arbitrary and brutal force against Palestinians since January 2011.

 

In all cases examined by Amnesty International, Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers did not appear to be posing a direct and immediate threat to life. In some, there is evidence that they were victims of wilful killings, which would amount to war crimes.

 

The rights of Palestinians to protest against the occupation are clearly enshrined in international law.  People have the right to fight against colonial domination and alien occupation in the exercise of their right to self-determination. In international law, Palestinian resistance to occupation is a legally protected right.

 

 

 

Source: Middle East Monitor