Geneva - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that the official instructions received by the Israeli army in dealing with Palestinian civilians led to the systematic use of lethal force, which caused a remarkable increase in incidents amounting to extrajudicial killings in the Palestinian territories.

The Euro-Med Monitor stated that the policy of excessive use of force adopted by the Israeli army against the Palestinians caused the killing of about 53 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as documented, between January 1 and July 10, 2022.

In a letter sent to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Mr. Maurice Tidbal Benz, the Euro-Med Monitor indicated that his field investigations and testimonies he collected about the killing of a Palestinian youth earlier this month showed that members of the Israeli army They deliberately used lethal force towards him.

On Wednesday, July 6, a special force from the Israeli army stormed east of the town of Jaba in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, and raided a house in the area.

About 15 minutes later, the young man, Rafiq Riad Ghannam (21 years old), left his house in his pajamas, after hearing a sound in the vicinity of the house. As soon as he moved about 40 meters away from his house, the soldiers fired two bullets at him and hit him directly, causing him to fall to the ground bleeding, and he remained in his place without giving him any first aid for about 35 minutes, before they took him with them as they withdrew from the area. At around five o'clock in the morning, the Palestinian Liaison Office informed Ghannam's family that the Israeli army had arrested him while he was injured, before telling him that he had died after another half hour.

The Euro-Med Monitor said that the shooting of Ghannam, which later led to his death, is part of the policy of excessive use of force against unarmed civilians, who in many cases do not pose a threat that requires the use of lethal force. This apparently reflects official Israeli instructions to the army to tolerate firing towards Palestinians without an urgent need.

On December 20, 2021, the Israeli army approved new instructions for the shooting policy, which gave the green light to soldiers in the West Bank to open fire on Palestinians from throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, which was reflected in the increase in the death toll of Palestinians.

The Euro-Med Monitor said that although the Israeli army's shooting policy was previously flexible and often led to extrajudicial killings without justification and without the principle of necessity and proportionality, the new instructions made pulling the trigger an easy matter for the soldiers, with the existence of A supportive official decision and procedures that protect them from any accountability.

The human rights monitor pointed out that the policy of impunity and the protection enjoyed by Israeli soldiers pushes them to deliberately shoot to kill, despite the absence of a serious danger or threat to their lives, which is a frequent occurrence in the West Bank during Israeli incursions.

He said: The adoption of the use of lethal force against civilians as a followed policy comes as a result of the absence of internal accountability in Israel on the one hand, and the continuation of the international community allowing the Israeli authorities to enjoy a policy of impunity for the violations committed previously.

The Euro-Med Monitor called on the Special Rapporteur to work to pressure Israel to abide by its responsibilities towards Palestinian civilians in accordance with the United Nations Guide to Preventing Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, and to Investigate Those Practices (1989), which stresses that exceptional circumstances should not be invoked in any way to justify Extrajudicial executions, even in cases of imminent danger.

He added: The Israeli authorities must impose oversight with a clear chain of command on all members of the Israeli army to prevent excessive use of force and extrajudicial killings during arrests or suspected individuals.

The Euro-Med Monitor called on the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions to follow up and investigate the killings of Palestinian civilians, calling on the relevant United Nations mechanisms and bodies to take action to protect civilians in the Palestinian territories, and to take serious steps to ensure accountability for extrajudicial killings.