The Israeli Army acknowledged that its forces violated protocol after tying a wounded Palestinian to the hood of a military vehicle during a raid in Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank. Images of the incident, which occurred on Saturday, went viral and show Mujahid Raed Abbadi tied horizontally to the hood of an Israeli military SUV, which is advancing along a narrow road. The Palestinian Red Crescent denounced that the Israeli Army prevented its teams from providing first aid to the young Palestinian.
“The conduct seen in the video is not consistent with IDF orders (Israel Defense Forces) and what is expected of its soldiers,” the military statement said, adding that “the incident is being investigated and treated accordingly.” According to Abbadi’s family, when they called for an ambulance to help him, the Israeli Army grabbed the young Palestinian, tied him to the hood and left.
It is common for Israeli troops, or the Border Police, to not allow ambulances to help wounded Palestinians during military incursions, which are usually lethal due to clashes with militiamen from armed factions and which have increased since the Hamas attack last year. October 7. According to medical sources Mujahid Raed Abbadi24 years old, He is originally from the Jenin refugee camp but was staying with some acquaintances in Jabriyatbetween Burqin and Jenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military said the man was wounded during “an anti-terrorist operation” launched in the area in search of suspects. Gazan sources reported, however, that the wounded man had been used as a human shield by the Israeli Army in order to avoid any possible shooting attack by the militia, according to the British newspaper. The Independent.
“In violation of operational orders and standards, the suspect was taken by the forces and tied to the vehicle,” said the Israeli Army, acknowledging in a statement that this way of acting “is not in accordance” with its values and that it will investigate what happened. Abbadi explained that He was wounded by gunfire and remained unable to move for more than two hours behind an Israeli military vehicle..
“When the soldiers reached my level, they stamped on my head, hit my face, legs and hands, which were injured. They laughed,” he said. The military “threw him over the hood of a jeep” that was burning, according to him. Doctors at Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin confirmed that Abbadi was admitted to the facility. Abbadi, with “a fracture” and “injuries,” underwent urgent surgery and will have to undergo surgery again, said Bahaa Abu Hamad, a surgeon at the center. “He has a burn on his back, from the nape of his neck to the lower part of his back,” he added.
Violence on the rise
The Abbadi incident occurred on the same day that a 12-year-old Palestinian boy died after being shot by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.the newspaper reported Haaretz. The boy was shot in the torso during clashes in the town of El Bireh last week. Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinian men believed to be militants in the Palestinian city of Qalqilyah on Saturday. An Israeli in his 60s was also shot dead in the same area, apparently by Palestinian militants.
Jenin is a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups, and the Israeli Army frequently carries out raids in the area. Violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has escalated since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7. Since that date and As of December 31, 2023, more than 320 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.and a minority at the hands of settlers living in the West Bank.
With these figures, 2023 became the deadliest year in two decades, with more than 520 deaths. So far in 2024, at least 222 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, most of them alleged militiamen or attackers, but also civilians, including some 44 children, according to a count by the EFE agency. In Israel, 14 people, mostly uniformed, and six civilians died in Palestinian attacks.
Alleged abuses against Palestinian prisoners
Abbadi’s case is not the only one that calls into question the actions of the Israeli government towards the Palestinians. The Supreme Court this Sunday urged the government to provide information on the conditions of confinement of Palestinian suspects in the Sde Teiman prison after receiving complaints about human rights violations. Several non-governmental organizations demanded the closure of Sde Teiman due to abuses against prisoners, considered terrorists by Israeli authorities.
Israel’s highest court requests information in particular on the food provided to prisoners, health care, hygiene and other minimum detention conditionss contained in the law on illegal combatants of 2002. Israel is holding illegal combatants, a term of International Humanitarian Law that applies in this case to militants of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups captured in Israel on October 7 or the following days and in the Gaza Strip during the current military campaign.
The Israeli government has already announced its intention to close the Sde Teiman facilities, an Israeli military base located in the Negev desert, about 29 kilometers from the border with the Gaza Strip. At the moment it continues to operate despite accusations of physical attacks and poor prison conditions that could constitute war crimes.
