December 5, 2021: Report from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR): On Saturday, 4 December 2021, in a crime amounting to extrajudicial execution, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) shot and killed a Palestinian male, who stabbed an Israeli settler in occupied East Jerusalem; even though IOF had shot and wounded him, neutralizing any threats he proposed.
Data collected by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and footage that documented the incident showed that two Israeli soldiers opened fired continuously at a Palestinian male, despite that he was wounded and had fallen to the ground; the soldiers left him to bleed out.
The crime was supported by the Israeli government, which confirms that Israel provides impunity for murder crimes against Palestinians.
According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 16:30 on Saturday, 04 December 2021, a Palestinian civilian coming from al-Mosrarah intersection area arrived at a street adjacent to Bab al-‘Amoud area in central occupied East Jerusalem.
When he approached an Israeli settler, he took a knife out and stabbed the settler several times, seriously wounding him.
At that time, two Israeli border guard officers saw the incident; they rushed to the scene and opened fire at the Palestinian who was only two meters away from them. The wounded attempted to assault the soldiers, but he sustained several live bullets wounds and fell to the ground while bleeding.
As he fell to the ground wounded, and ceased to be a threat to anyone, the two border guard officers continued to fire several bullets at him from zero distance, leaving him bleeding on the ground for 40 minutes. Afterwards, backup forces arrived at the scene and did not provide first aid to the wounded. Also, they prevented the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) crews from reaching him to provide any help.
Following the incident, IOF completely closed Bab al-‘Amoud and al-Mosrarah areas and closed all al-Aqsa Mosque’s gates as well as the gates of occupied East Jerusalem’s wall.
Also, they detained dozens of Palestinians who were in Bab al-‘Amoud and in Bab al-Sahera areas, in the center of occupied East Jerusalem, prevented them from entering or exiting the city for half an hour, physically assaulted some of them, and fired teargas canisters and sound bombs at them.
Moreover, IOF arrested a woman, whose identity remains unknown, from the scene and took her to Moscovia Detention Centre for interrogation.
Later on, IOF took the dead corpse to an unknown destination, and the victim’s identity was confirmed as Mohammad Shawkat Mohammad Salima (25), from Salfit in northern West Bank.
The murder of Salima was supported by the Israeli government, as the Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, tweeted: “The soldiers acted as quickly and firmly as expected … I ask to give them full backing.”
As for the Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, he also tweeted: “I completely back our security officers and border guard officers who responded quickly and firmly this evening.”[1]
This crime brings back to memory many cold-blooded murders against Palestinians by IOF, whether by targeting and killing the wounded, killing on grounds of suspicion, or killing without presence of any threat or danger to soldiers’ lives.
As these crimes continue with the full support of the Israeli government, it suggests that a high-level political office authorized these murder crimes that amount to extrajudicial execution. It is also another proof that the absence of accountability and the complicit silence of the international community encourages the occupation to commit more crimes.
PCHR demands the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to ensure Israel abidance, as a Member State, to the application of the Conventions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfill their obligations to ensure respect to the Conventions and to take practical steps towards holing Israeli war criminals accountable by ending the impunity enjoyed by the occupation for many decades.
