On June 23, 2024, during a military raid in the Jabariyat area near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces tied Mujahed Abadi, a wounded Palestinian man, to the hood of a military jeep, using him as a human shield. Video evidence verified by Al Jazeera showed "Azmi" strapped to the vehicle while it passed by ambulances that had been denied access to him.

This incident provoked worldwide outrage & accusations Mujahed was used as a human shield. There is also medics testimonies who said they have been used as human shields too (what the IDF denies).

An IDF statement said the man was wounded in an exchange of fire during the raid, in which he was a "suspect". The injured man's family said to BBC that when they asked for an ambulance, the army took him, strapped him to the hood of their military vehicle and drove off.

Another eyewitness asserted that the IDF paraded the wounded man around on the hood for several minutes. Abdulraouf Mustafa, a Palestinian ambulance driver, said the Israeli soldiers refused to hand over Azmi to them. “The jeep passed by and the wounded man was on the hood,” Mustafa told Al Jazeera. “One arm was tied to the windshield and the arm was on his abdomen. They drove past us. They refused to give us the patient.”

They finaly handing him over to a Palestinian Red Cross ambulance which was parked nearby. This shows that the wounded man was not suspect to by a resistant fighter, as the IDF later maintained.

**Two other cases the same day **

A cousin of Abbadeh told the press that Israeli forces had done the same during this raid to three other people. Two other Palestinians subsequently came forth and testified to the BBC, showing video evidence. All three men were unarmed and released after identity checks. Here is a detailed summary of their accounts and the Israeli response.

Samir Dabaya (25 years old): was shot in the back during the raid and left lying face-down for hours before being approached by soldiers. He was beaten, stripped of his trousers, and thrown semi-naked onto the bonnet of a jeep. Security footage appears to show him on the fast-moving jeep, marked with the number 1, though the date and time of the footage are unclear. Samir described the ordeal as life-threatening and humiliating.

Hesham Isleit: was shot twice during the operation, including in the leg, and detained alongside another individual. Allegedly stripped, tied, and forced onto a burning-hot jeep, causing further physical suffering. He reported being threatened with death if he resisted.

The further testimony of Mujhed Abadi

The first soldier who stormed in, stepped my head. And the effect are obvious (he shows his head). SO I was injured in my leg and my hand, as I told you. They grabbed me by the injuries and started to beat me, on the injuries.(…) They grabbed me with two of my legs and two of my hands, and they started to toss me around. And they throw me on the jeep. The first time, they threw me in the air, and I fell on the ground. The second time they thew me on the jeep hood. After all this treatment and the fire, and the pressure, and the beating, they ask me for my name. After I gave them my name, they photographed me, and they left me on the hood, and started driving. The jeep start to move forward and back. They left me on the hood, and of course, the hood temperature was scorching hot. No one ca bear it. My whole body was burning. A quarter of an hour, they kept moving forward and back until he drove to the main street. He took me to an erea where my injured cousin was and there were soldiers there. When I got there, a soldier came, and grabbed me by ly injured hand and they asked the Palestinian ambulance to come to take me because it turned out that I was not wanted, I haven’t done anything. I was hoping to die for this not happen to me I hoped to die, because what happened to me killed me while I was still alive. (about the soldiers :) They were laughing when hitting me, they were laughing, and they were cursing me, and they were laughing at me and hitting me. An if they didn’t like it, they would hit me more. If I screamed, they would hit me more.

Moreover, Mr Abbadeh's family home were searched and targeted by IDF drone during the raid : bullet marks on the outside walls and his car is now a burnt shell.His cousin, Rafat Hasanieh, said the military searched the home but did not find any weapons.“The army came into the house with a drone, they searched the house, then the soldiers came in with dogs and searched again,” he said.“We have no weapons in the house.”

Mujahed Abbadeh in Ibn Sina Specialised Hospital in Jenin, where he is being treated for his injuries. He remained psychologically hurt by the incident.

International reactions :

• Footage become quickly viral on Social medias and International Press widley reported the incident.

• UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese condemned the act as a blatant violation of international law, labeling it "human shielding in action." “It is flabbergasting how a state born 76 years ago has managed to turn international law literally on its head,” she wrote in a post on X. “This risks being the end of multilateralism, which for some influential member states no longer serves any relevant purpose.”

• CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) denounced the incident, linking it to broader violence against Palestinians and calling for an end to US support of Israeli military actions.

Impunity of Israeli forces in question

• The Israeli military acknowledged the incident violated its protocol and promised an investigation, stating it did not align with their values.

• Analysts warned that failure to appropriately discipline those involved could set a precedent for future misconduct, potentially turning isolated incidents into unofficial policy.

• Various human rights organizations and political figures emphasized the need for accountability to prevent similar violations in the future.

Israel Internal Investigation after US ask they investigate

IDF communicates the day after the incident on their investigation. According to their involved IDF soldiers "A group of suspects", including the primary target, fled when they arrived. The IDF opened fire at the fleeing individuals, injuring two. One of the injured was evacuated by an Israeli Air Force helicopter, while a Shin Bet representative at the scene advised that a second injured suspect could be left behind. The wounded "suspect" was handed over to the Red Crescent Society for medical care. IDF soldiers claim injured Palestinian agreed to be evacuated on jeep hood : "Troops says injured Palestinian agreed to be transported this way because there was no room inside the jeep, and the travel distance was only 70 meters until he was handed over to the Red Crescent"

The IDF later stated that the actions depicted in the footage do not align with IDF orders or expectations of its soldiers. The incident is under investigation, and appropriate action will be taken

But on July 1, the IDF disclosed three recent incidents where Palestinian detainees were tied to the hoods of military jeeps during operations in the occupied West Bank, raising concerns about the military's handling of such cases. BBC reported two additional cases on June 30, suggest a broader issue. The military confirmed these cases and acknowledged challenges in addressing the problem comprehensively.

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