‘Heinous crime’: Israeli forces throw Palestinians’ bodies off building in Jenin

A shocking video has circulated on social media showing Israeli soldiers throwing the bodies of Palestinian men from a building during a raid in the occupied West Bank, prompting the Hamas resistance movement to urge the world to condemn the “heinous crime.”

The footage showed Israeli soldiers on Thursday abusing the bodies of three Palestinians killed during an Israeli raid on the town of Qabatiya in the northern part of the West Bank, and throwing them one by one from the rooftop of a house.

According to Palestinian reports, Israeli bulldozers later swept the bodies away and seized them.

“There is no military need to do this. It’s just a savage way of treating Palestinian bodies,” Shawan Jabarin, the director of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, told AP after watching the footage, which he described as shocking but not surprising.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli troops raided Qabatiya, blockading four homes, and besieging nearly 1,000 students in the schools of Izzat Abu al-Rab and Qabatiya. Staff was also trapped inside the Education Directorate which lies near the raided area.

In total, at least seven Palestinians were killed and 10 others were injured throughout the day.

Dozens of students suffered from breathing difficulties due to inhaling teargas fired heavily by the soldiers.

Commenting on the video, Hamas said in a statement on Thursday, “The brutal scenes committed by the Zionist occupation army in the town of Qabatiya, west of Jenin, … confirm once again the barbarity and brutality of this occupation, which has been committing massacres and genocide against our people in Gaza for a year, amid international silence and American political and military cover.”

Hamas said the abuse of the bodies of martyrs is “a heinous crime” that must be strongly condemned by all countries, international organizations, and human rights group.

“These horrific crimes committed in Gaza and the West Bank represent a flagrant violation of all international humanitarian and legal standards. It confirms that this fascist occupation needs no excuse to carry out its killings and crimes against our people and the peoples of the region,” The Palestinian Information Center quoted Hamas’ statement as saying.

Hamas stressed that such scenes and crimes will fuel public anger and increase acts of resistance carried out by the “heroes” of the West Bank.