The International Commission (Hashd): Israel’s recent wave of field executions of Palestinian civilians demonstrates a clear disrespect for international law.

Reference Number: 52/2023

Date: May 6, 2023

Native language: Arabic

press release

The International Commission (Hashd): Israel’s recent wave of field executions of Palestinian civilians demonstrates a clear disrespect for international law.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd) strongly condemns the execution of two citizens by Israeli occupying forces on Saturday, May 6, 2023: Samer Salah al-Shafei, 22, who was shot in the neck, chest, and abdomen, and Hamza Jamil Kharbush, 22, who was shot in the chest, abdomen, and left foot, as well as a number of citizens who were injured as a result of Israeli occupation forces bursting the Tulkarm camp.

According to media reports and witnesses, a special force that entered the camp and was identified and addressed by civilians sparked substantial military reinforcements by the occupying troops within the Nour Shams camp. They deployed snipers on the roofs, surrounded the area, and killed civilians in cold blood. Eyewitnesses verified that the troops waited with the injured citizens until it was determined they had been slain. Even though Hamza was still alive, an occupying soldier shot a gun at him.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd) upholds the Palestinian people’s right to oppose the oppressor using whatever means are available. It confirms, as a recognized right under international law, that this act is part of a sequence of Israeli field killings of Palestinians. Human rights and the Palestinian people, as well as international law norms, have been targeted since the beginning of this year, with the advent of the fascist racist right’s government based on the denial of human rights and the Palestinian people, as well as international law norms. (110) civilians have been murdered, including (20) children and two women, whose field executions are an obvious and clear breach of international law norms that ban any extrajudicial, arbitrary, or summary executions for whatever cause.

This is supported by the Israeli occupying forces’ continued use of lethal killing devices in field executions, despite the fact that the circumstances surrounding these incidents do not justify the use of excessive force, which constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the requirements of the Rome Statute establishing the Permanent International Criminal Court. This necessitates aggressive action to put a stop to Israel’s systematic practices and crimes using whatever means possible, including by supporting accountability processes and prosecuting perpetrators of such crimes under the concept of international jurisdiction and before the International Criminal Court. As a result, the International Commission registers and demands:

1. The International Commission (Hashd): considers with grave concern the recurrence of killings and field executions carried out by Israeli occupying forces against Palestinians in the West Bank in a variety of circumstances, as it reveals a systematic Israeli policy characterized by a flagrant disregard for international law. in which it validates the bulk of field killings performed by Israeli occupation forces, settlers, and Israeli police. The Palestinian casualties presented no direct danger to Israeli soldiers or settlers. especially as several incidents included field killings of injured people.

2. The International Commission (Hashd): Determine whether Israel’s current executive, legal, and judicial political systems serve as a cover for Israel and its military and civilian agents alike, preventing any legal accountability of Israeli soldiers and settlers and encouraging them to commit additional crimes against Palestinian civilians.

3. The International Commission (Hashd): calls for the Palestinian leadership’s internationalization of the conflict, the expeditious arrangement of the inner house, and the reconstruction of all institutions of the Palestinian diplomatic political system in order to make additional efforts to refer these situations to the International Criminal Court in order to ensure that an international investigation of crimes committed by the occupying forces is opened, thereby keeping the occupation in place.

4. The International Commission (Hashd): Urges the international community to take decisive action to take a firm stand against systematic Israeli policies and crimes, to provide international protection to Palestinians, to support accountable actions and to prosecute perpetrators of such crimes, and to impose sanctions and boycotts on the occupying power.