Israeli soldiers were seen pushing three apparently lifeless bodies from rooftops during a raid in the northern part of the occupied West Bank on Thursday.
Footage obtained by the Associated Press yesterday in Qabatiya showed three members of the Israeli Defence Forces picking up a stiff body and then dragging it toward the edge of a roof.
The soldiers peered over the edge before heaving the body towards the precipice and kicking it repeatedly until the corpse tumbled into the abyss.
Meanwhile, on an adjacent rooftop, soldiers held another seemingly dead body by its limbs and swung it over the edge.
An Israeli army bulldozer was later seen trundling towards the location where the bodies were dropped according to reporters.
This is a serious incident that does not coincide with IDF values and the expectations from IDF soldiers, the military said in a statement.
Officials said they would review the incident but did not immediately launch a formal investigation.
The soldiers on the roof peered over the edge before heaving the body towards the precipice and kicking it repeatedly until the corpse tumbled into the abyss
Officials said they would review the incident but did not immediately launch a formal investigation
The identities or exact whereabouts of the bodies dropped from rooftops could not be immediately verified
The cause of the death for the bodies dropped from rooftops is also not yet known, but rights groups say the incident represents evidence that Israeli troops are displaying a pattern of excessive force toward Palestinians
The dark footage that has now been widely circulated on social media captured what appears to be the latest in a series of suspected violations by Israeli forces since the start of the Israel-Hamas.
The identities or exact whereabouts of the bodies dropped from rooftops could not be immediately verified.
But Israel said its troops had killed seven militants in total on Thursday - four during operations in a gun battle and three in an airstrike on a car carrying militants who the military said had fired at troops.
As of Friday, no militant group had claimed any of the dead as its fighters.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah confirmed that one person had been killed in the car strike, but did not immediately report more deaths from Qabatiya.
It did however claim that Israeli gunfire sent 10 Palestinians to the hospital.
The cause of the death for the bodies dropped from rooftops is also not yet known, but rights groups say the incident represents evidence that Israeli troops are displaying a pattern of excessive force toward Palestinians.
Under international law, soldiers are supposed to ensure dead bodies, including those of enemy combatants, are treated decently.
When withdrawing from raids, the Israeli army usually leaves behind any Palestinians killed by gunfire. Occasionally the army brings dead bodies into Israel.
There is no military need to do this. Its just a savage way of treating Palestinian bodies, said Shawan Jabarin, the director of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, after watching the footage.
Jabarin said the video was shocking but not surprising, and he was doubtful Israel would properly investigate the incident.
The Israeli military rarely prosecutes soldiers in cases of reported harm to Palestinians, rights groups say.
The most that will happen is that soldiers will be disciplined, but there will be no real investigation and no real prosecution, said Jabarin.
The young brother of Shadi Zakarneh, identified by Israeli authorities as responsible for directing and carrying out attacks in the northern West Bank area, who was killed during a military raid the previous day, cries during a funeral in Qabatiyah south of Jenin, on September 20, 2024
Qabatiyah is located in the north of the West Bank, where the military has been carrying out large-scale raids since late August that the Palestinian health ministry says have left dozens dead
People check the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli military raid in Qabatiyah south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, on September 20, 2024
Gunmen hold weapons during the funeral of Palestinian men killed the previous day during an Israeli military raid in Qabatiyah south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, on September 20, 2024
The military released a grainy aerial video it said was taken in Qabatiya Thursday, appearing to show four people the military identified as militants exiting a car, one firing two shots.
The car is then struck from the air, prompting a larger blast.
The military said that the car was carrying explosive devices and weapons, adding that its soldiers confiscated the weapons and arrested seven people suspected of militant activity.
An AP reporter who witnessed the raid said they also saw a blindfolded and shirtless Palestinian man kneeling before an Israeli army jeep and armed soldiers, but his fate was unknown.
As the worlds attention focuses on the far more deadly war in Gaza less than 80 miles away, scores of Palestinians have been killed, shot and arrested in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has waged a months-long crackdown.
Over 700 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since the war erupted on October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The northern West Bank has seen some of the worst violence since the wars outbreak.
Israel says the raids are necessary to stamp out militancy, which has flared since October 7.
In that time, Palestinian gunmen have attacked Israelis at checkpoints and staged several attacks within Israel.
Earlier this month, Israel staged its deadliest raid into the northern West Bank since the war began, killing at least 33 people.