"Israeli occupation forces commit atrocities by mutilating the bodies of Palestinians in Gaza

The Israeli occupation forces released a video showing an Israeli military vehicle deliberately running over the body of a Palestinian in civilian clothing who had been killed while attempting to evacuate in the Gaza Strip. Some eyewitnesses reported that the victim was trying to cross the corridor designated by the Israeli army — the main Salah al-Din Road — for the evacuation of civilians from Gaza City and its northern areas to southern regions. However, he was shot dead and then run over by the military vehicle, apparently for the purpose of desecration of his body.

The Palestinian Human Rights Organization (Shahid) expresses its strong condemnation of this brutal behavior and notes that the Israeli occupation has committed multiple violations involving the desecration of Palestinian bodies — with more than 11,000 martyrs and over 28,000 injured — as documented by several organizations and media outlets.

These acts by the Israeli occupation confirm that its violations are not limited to the living. In this context, Shahid points out that the occupation’s violations against deceased Palestinians are longstanding and have persisted since its establishment. The occupation has consistently mistreated Palestinian bodies, even detaining them and denying families the right to bury them. By the middle of this year, the number of bodies held by the Israeli occupation exceeded 370.

Based on the above, Shahid emphasizes that the Israeli occupation’s violations against Palestinian bodies are neither isolated incidents nor rare crimes, but rather part of a systematic policy of ill-treatment of Palestinians, particularly civilians.

A careful review of the Israeli occupation’s behavior over the past decades — including during the current aggression in Gaza — confirms that it targets civilians in ways that violate international laws and conventions. The horrific act carried out by the Israeli forces in Gaza against this young Palestinian constitutes a clear violation of international law, and the international community must act swiftly to confront such abuses.

These violations fall under breaches of the following provisions of international law:

Article 1(c) of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits attacks on personal dignity, recognizing that the dignity of the dead is the same as that of the living.

Article 4(2)(a) of the Second Additional Protocol to the 1977 Geneva Conventions forbids killing and cruel treatment such as torture and mutilation.

Article 4(2)(e) prohibits violations of personal dignity, particularly humiliating or degrading treatment.

Regarding the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 8(2)(a) establishes that the killing of civilians during an international armed conflict constitutes a war crime. Additionally, Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to life for all, and Article 5 prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Through this statement, the Palestinian Human Rights Organization (Shahid) calls on the international community to conduct an independent investigation into this incident — and other related crimes — and to hold those responsible accountable. We also call for measures to prevent such horrific violations in the future and to ensure respect for the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people through active intervention and pressure on the Israeli occupation to stop the ongoing massacres in Gaza.

Palestinian Human Rights Organization (Shahid) Beirut, 13/11/2023

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