QABATIYA, West Bank: The Israeli military said it was reviewing an incident in the occupied West Bank in which soldiers shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian who they said had thrown a brick at them, after CCTV footage appeared to show he was not doing so when shot.
Asked about the video, an Israeli military spokesperson said: “A Palestinian suspected of hurling a block at IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers was shot. The incident is under review.”
Palestinian officials said that Rayyan Mohammad Abu Mualla was shot and killed on Saturday in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya, during a raid by the Israeli military.
The Israeli military initially said on Saturday: “During IDF operational activity in the area of Qabatiya, a terrorist hurled a block toward the soldiers, who responded with fire and eliminated the terrorist.”
CCTV footage showed two Israeli soldiers — one crouching and one standing on a lit street corner at dark — and a third soldier appearing to take position in an adjacent street leading to the same corner.
A person is then seen walking down a street and as he reaches the corner, he is shot by the crouching soldier and falls back and onto the ground.
The video does not appear to show him throwing a block or holding one.
The video starts six minutes before the shooting, showing the streets empty and then a military vehicle driving down the street as one person peers off a rooftop and another through a window as the soldiers arrive at the scene.
The person who is shot appears in the video three seconds before the shooting, and it is not possible to ascertain what the person was doing or holding before he is seen.
The footage was obtained from the owner of the security camera and its location and date were verified by Reuters. The incident is partly obscured because of the angle of the camera and the low light.
Abu Mualla’s mother, Ibtihal, said that the Israeli military had taken his body away.
CCTV footage from around 22 minutes after the shooting appears to show his body being placed by soldiers on a stretcher and driven away in a military vehicle 11 minutes after that, 33 minutes after the shooting.
“They could have shot him in the leg, my son didn’t throw anything toward them,” said Mualla. “I want to bury my son with dignity,” she said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since January, when Israel began stepping up raids in the northern West Bank, 53 Palestinian minors have been killed by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Israel says the raids are meant to tackle Palestinian militants and thwart attacks against Israelis.
Israeli military ‘examining’ killing of Palestinian teen
https://arab.news/jw9ej
Israeli military ‘examining’ killing of Palestinian teen
- Rayyan Mohammad Abu Mualla was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers on Saturday in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya
- CCTV footage appears to disprove Israel's initial claim that the victim had thrown a rock
EU warns Israel suspending Gaza NGOs would block ‘life-saving aid’
BRUSSELS: The EU warned Wednesday that Israel's threat to suspend several aid groups in Gaza from January would block "life-saving" assistance from reaching the population.
"The EU has been clear: the NGO registration law cannot be implemented in its current form," EU humanitarian chief Hadja Lahbib posted on X, after Israel said several groups would be barred for failing to provide details of their Palestinian employees.
"IHL (international humanitarian law) leaves no room for doubt: aid must reach those in need," Lahbib wrote.
NGOs had until December 31 to register under the new framework, which Israel says aims to prevent "hostile actors or supporters of terrorism" operating in the Palestinian territories, rather than impede aid.
Israeli authorities announced Tuesday that organisations which "refused to submit a list of their Palestinian employees in order to rule out any links to terrorism" had received notice that their licences would be revoked as of January 1, with an obligation to cease all activities by March 1.
Israel has not disclosed the number of groups facing a ban, but it has specifically called out Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for failing to meet the rules. It accused the medical charity of employing two individuals with links to Palestinian armed groups.
The Israeli government told AFP earlier this month that 14 NGO requests had been rejected as of November 25.
Several NGOs said the new rules will have a major impact on aid distribution in Gaza, with humanitarian organisations saying the amount of aid entering Gaza remains inadequate.
While an accord for a ceasefire that started on October 10 stipulated the entry of 600 trucks per day, only 100 to 300 are carrying humanitarian aid, according to NGOs and the United Nations.
COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said last week that on average 4,200 aid trucks enter Gaza weekly, which corresponds to around 600 daily.
