TikTok Genocide

Soldiers point rifles at journalists documenting the building siege in Qabatiya

No.

5290

Date

19 September, 2024

Found by

Middle East Eye

Location

West Bank - Jenin - Qabatiya

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Original Social Media Post

"Journalists took cover on the roof of a building as Israeli soldiers pointed weapons at them during an army raid in Qabatiya, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank on Thursday." - Source

Archivist Notes: Bodies thrown from roof, desecrated, paraded

During an IDF raid on the town of Qabatiya, in Jenin, on September 19, Israeli soldiers besieged the house of Zakarneh (Zakarna) family, and attacked it with antitank rifle grenades before sumamrily executed 5 Palestinians, after blindfolding them.
The soldiers proceeded to kick the bodies off the roof of the building one by one to the street below. Once the bodies were on the ground, soldiers brought an excavator and mutilated the bodies. Once desecrated by the excavators' arm, the IDF soldiers placed the desecrated bodies in an earth-moving loader. The IDF then drove around town and paraded the desecrated bodies across the streets of Qabatiya.
The besieged house was burned by Israeli soldiers and their demolition engine destroyed partially the house. As soon as the Israeli soldiers withdrew, hundreds of young men in the town headed towards the house that had been under siege for 12 hours. They began extinguishing the fires and searching for the body of a martyr, which they found burned beyond recognition. Palestinian Red Crescent identified him as Shadi Sami Zakarneh.
According to a Sky News OSINT journalist Olive Enokido-Lineham, footage confirms IDF soldiers killed and threw four bodies off the roof. Source
At least seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the raid.
Under international law, soldiers must ensure that bodies, including those of enemy combatants, are treated properly.

Casualties

7 people were killed. 8 injured, 2 in critical condition.

Names of the martyrs:

Shadi Zakarna/Zakarneh
Ahmed Maher Zakarna/Zakarneh
Mustafa Zakarna/Zakarneh
Fadi Jawdat Hanaysha
Muhammad Khaled Abu al-Rub
Omar Abu al-Rub
Muhammad Omar Kamil Abu Khamira

2 other members of the Zakarna/Zakarneh family were arrested : Mohammed Zakarna/Zakarneh and Qasim. Source

First statements

In a post on X, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the act as a “crime” that exposes the Israeli army’s “brutality”.
Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Al Jazeera that the footage had shown “absolutely savage and inhuman behaviour”."Not only [had] they shot these people and let them bleed to death, they beat them with their boots, they humiliated their bodies, they mutilated their bodies, and then they threw them from the rooftop to the ground."

“I don't know if they checked they were still alive or not when they did that, but this is such a savage behaviour and you cannot say that this is part of the war because there is no war in the West Bank. There is war from one side, military actions from one side, on a civilian population. The West Bank does not have an army, does not have even a resistance force like Hamas that is fighting Israelis, no. They have some gunmen here and there. They don't represent an army. What you see here is a grave violation of international law and Human rights first of all by this kind of use of military force against civilian population. Second by this terrible behaviour in such a town like Qabatiya today where they besieged no less than 18 children in a kindergarten. Up till this moment, they are besieged with their teachers. They cannot go home since the morning. They are besieging workers of the municipality and they are besieging journalists who don't know what to do because if they try to get out of the places they are in, they will be shot. It’s absolute savage behaviour by this Israeli army that feels absolutely unaccountable to anything; unaccountable to law; unaccountable to human rights; and unaccountable to international law. They just do whatever they want not only in Qabatiya as they did today but everywhere in the West Bank every day we hear of new crimes that they are committing.”

Gaza chief of communications at the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, an NGO that advocated for human rights, Muhammad Shehada, wrote: "But... but Hamas threw people off rooftops' has been one of Israel's main talking points to justify slaughtering Gazans for decades. Here, the [Israeli army], in broad daylight, throwing a Palestinian off a rooftop after they shot him today."
US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said if the footage is corroborated “it clearly would depict abhorrent and egregious behaviour by professional soldiers (...) We reached out immediately to our Israeli counterparts about it, and we pressed them for more details. They have assured us that they’re going to investigate this and that there will be proper accountability if it’s warranted (...) We’re going to be very eager to see what the [Israeli army] investigation finds and, as always, we expect that investigation be done thoroughly and transparently.” https://aje.io/px2nij?update=3191783

September 19 events :

Raid and Deaths: Israeli occupation forces raided the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, killing at least three Palestinians. The forces besieged a house, bombarding it with missiles, and later demolished it with bulldozers. The bodies of the three Palestinians were taken to the roof of the house before its demolition.

Military Clashes: Armed clashes erupted between Israeli forces and resistance fighters as military reinforcements and bulldozers were brought into the town.

Obstruction of medical care: Israeli forces blocked Red Crescent teams from reaching the besieged house, and detonated a bomb nearby. One injured man was evacuated by ambulance.

Journalists Targeted: Soldiers aimed their rifles at journalists and shot tear gas canisters at Al Jazeera team (Nida Ibrahim) covering the raid.

Schools Besieged: Israeli forces surrounded two schools (near another besieged building) trapping nearly 1,000 students inside, while eight other schools were evacuated. Many students suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Child injured in a bank The Red Crescent has rescued a child who was hit and injured by an Israeli live bullet in the waist area

Extrajudicail execution : The Palestinian resistance fighter Mustafa Zakarna was killed in an Israeli drone strike on his vehicle in Qabatiya.

Bodies desecration : Israeli soldiers were seen throwing the bodies of three Palestinians killed in a gunfight from the roof of a high-rise building. An excavator later mutilated the bodies and took them in a loader through the city as a form of deterrence.

Infrastructure Damage: Israeli bulldozers destroyed roads and a police station during the raid.