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الموقع تحت الإنشاء

النسخة التجريبية من موقع النهضة العربية (أرض)

GNQP expresses outrage at yet another extrajudicial execution in the oPt Statement

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The Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP) strongly condemns what appears as the brutal extrajudicial execution of Mohammad Shawkat Salima, a 25-year-old from Salfit in occupied East Jerusalem on December 4. Footage shows that around late afternoon, the young Palestinian man was gunned down by the Israeli army after he stabbed and wounded an Israeli Ultra-orthodox Jew outside Jerusalem’s Old City. Even though Salima engaged in a violent act, visual evidence available indicates that Israeli forces fatally shot him after he was already subdued and no longer posed a threat to anyone on the scene.

International human rights law limits the lethal use of firearms to cases in which no other option is viable. This is clearly not observed in the occupied Palestinian territory. The killing of Salima, while lying on the ground wounded and harmless, exemplifies Israel’s predisposition towards exacting lethal force against Palestinians when they do not pose a threat. From January to November 2021 alone, Israeli forces have killed 331 Palestinians, including at least 73 minors. Such loss of life must be understood in the broader context of Israel’s occupation, under which forces shirk their responsibility outlined in Article 43 of the Hague Regulations to administer the territory in the interest of civilian populations. Israel’s conduct instead typifies the settler colonial paradigm composed of the vilification and annihilation of the indigenous people. Whatever legal regime one applies to this case, shooting an individual who does not pose an immediate threat is an extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary execution.

We grieve the silence of the international community against these repeated crimes, which are turning Palestine into a killing field. Israel is considered an exception in the international order, with very few or no adverse consequences to its breaches of international law and humanity. Mere statements are not enough, and urgent action is needed.

The GNQP urges relevant bodies and authorities to take swift action to ensure that human rights are respected in occupied Palestine and justice is ensured. Ensuring a proper investigation, trial, and if appropriate, punishment would be the minimum to deter what appears to be a pattern of unrestricted, excessive use of force followed by impunity.

As a network and individual members, the GNQP urgently calls upon:

·       Both the recently appointed Commission of Inquiry and International Criminal Court to investigate the killing of Salima and the other 330 lethal incidents in the oPt in 2021, as part of their investigations in Israel/Palestine and Palestine respectively.

·       The international community and UN independent experts condemn the recurrence of what appear to be extrajudicial killings of Palestinians in occupied Palestine and urge Israel to respect international law and consensus on the need to relinquish its control over the occupied territory. Failing this, the international community should be ready to consider the measures allowed by the UN Charter, including diplomatic and commercial sanctions against Israel, to deter further impunity.

The United Nations, the European Union, or another international entity deploy a protective presence in the areas where confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces and settlers are more frequent as an interim measure to protect civilian lives.