Jenin Refugee Camp is rallying around the bereaved family of Izzadeen Walid Beny Gharrah, in his early 20s, shot by a sniper in the early hours of this morning during an invasion of the refugee camp by Israeli occupation forces. Izzadeen is the latest of many hundreds of martyrs mourned by this community. May his soul rest in peace.
Izzadeen Walid Beny Gharrah is the twelfth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since the start of 2015, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, with over 900 injured, not including injuries resulting from settler violence. One Israeli has been killed in the same time period.
An investigation by Palestinian Center for Human Rights confirms the accounts that The Freedom Theatre heard a few hours after Izzadeen’s death, that he had been unarmed and on his way home when he was killed by a sniper. While Israeli forces claimed Izzadeen had been carrying a bomb that had exploded when he was shot, medical personnel and eye witnesses refuted this. He was hit with one bullet that killed him immediately and doctors found no shrapnel of an explosive device on his body or clothes.
“PCHR strongly condemns this crime which is part of Israel’s policy of using excessive force against Palestinian civilians in disregard for their lives. Furthermore, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to stop the israeli crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions.” Read more.
Search and arrest raids are regular practice by Israeli forces, who have conducted a weekly average of 86 raids this year, up from 75 a week in 2014, according to a May report by UN Special Coordinator (UNSCO). Jenin Refugee Camp, which is within Area A of the West Bank (officially controlled by the Palestinian Authority) is invaded on a regular basis, almost always at night.