Two of the latest fatalities were 16-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hamidat and 17-year-old Mohammed Musa Al Bitar, both shot “at a distance of approximately 70 yards as he ran away after throwing stones and/or Molotov cocktails at an (Israeli) military post outside a settlement near Aqabat Jaber, according to CCTV footage,” the High Commissioner’s office said, OHCHR.
The deaths of the youths, along with the killing of four more Palestinians by the Israeli army on Monday, brings the Palestinian toll to 505 as Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel have fueled the war in Gaza, OHCHR said.
During the same period, 24 Israelis, including eight members of the Israeli security forces, were killed in the West Bank and Israel in clashes or alleged attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank.
‘Unprecedented bloodshed’
“As if the tragic events in Israel and then Gaza over the past eight months were not enough, the people of the occupied West Bank are also being subjected to unprecedented bloodshed day after day. It is unimaginable that so many people’s lives were taken in such a deliberate manner.said the High Commissioner.
“The killing, destruction and widespread human rights violations are unacceptable and must stop immediately. Israel must not only adopt but also enforce rules of engagement that are fully consistent with applicable human rights norms and standards,” Mr. Türk continued. “Any allegation of unlawful killings must be thoroughly and independently investigated those responsible were held accountable.”
Lethal force, the first resort
The UN rights chief noted that killings of Palestinians had already reached a “record high” in the first nine months of last year, before rising “sharply” after the October 7 attacks by Hamas-led fighters, in which about 1,250 deaths and more occurred. than 250 taken hostage.
“Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed by the ISF since the beginning of 2024, compared to 113 and 50 killed in the same periods in 2023 and 2022, respectively,” the statement from the UN rights chief’s office said.
And despite the absence of armed hostilities in the occupied West Bank, the ISF conducted at least 29 operations “involving airstrikes by unmanned aerial vehicles or aircraft and the firing of surface-to-surface missiles against refugee camps and other densely populated areas.” it continued.
During these operations, 164 Palestinians were killed, including 35 childrenaccording to OHCHR, which noted a “prevalence” of Palestinian victims being shot in the upper body and denied medical attention.
This indicates “an intention to kill in violation of the right to life, rather than a gradual application of force and an attempt to de-escalate tense situations… in cases where the shots clearly did not pose an immediate threat to life” , according to UN rights. office said.