OIC urges UN fact-finding mission to probe Israel’s killing of Palestinian youth near Nablus
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called on the United Nations to set up a fact-finding mission to probe the recent fatal shooting of a Palestinian youth by Israeli forces in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
In a statement released on Monday, the Jeddah-based intergovernmental organization, held Israeli authorities fully responsible for the repercussions of assassinations and premeditated killings of Palestinians by Israeli troops, urging the UN and other concerned international bodies to establish a fact-finding mission to investigate circumstances surrounding the death of 22-year-old Ammar Mefleh.
It called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to fulfill its legal and political responsibilities, pressure Israel into stopping such criminal acts, hold the occupying regime accountable for all its violations and racist policies, and provide international protection for Palestinian people.
Video footage widely circulated on social media showed an Israeli soldier holding Mefleh in a headlock by a road in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus, on December 2 as two other men tried to wrestle him away.
The man then appears to strike the Israeli soldier, before the trooper pulls out a handgun and shoot him several times at point-blank as the Palestinian youth fell to the ground.
Israeli forces present at the scene prevented residents and ambulances from providing aid to the injured Palestinian youth, provoking clashes with locals.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Mefleh died of his critical wounds.
The United Nations Middle East envoy, Tor Wennesland, said on Twitter that he was horrified by the latest killing.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said at the time that the criminal execution in the town of Huwara reflected the extent of organized racism being practiced by Israeli forces.
Shtayyeh expressed his utter shock and anger over the heartbreaking video footage of Mefleh being fatally shot at point-blank by an Israeli soldier, saying that Israeli soldiers feel assured that they will not be held accountable for their crimes and this emboldens them to repeat such offenses.
He also urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to quickly hold the perpetrators to account.
Since the start of 2022, Israeli troops have killed more than 210 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds as well as the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to the United Nations, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the occupied West Bank this year is the highest in 16 years.
Local and international rights groups have condemned Israel’s excessive use of force and “shoot-to-kill policy” against Palestinians.
