Israel accused of ‘war crime’ in the West Bank

A UN human rights official said the Israel may have committed a war crime following a probe into the shooting of two Palestinian boys in the war-throne West Bank. Eight-year-old Adam al-Ghul and 15-year-old Basel Abu el-Wafa were shot and killed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the city of Jenin in November.

The shocking CCTV footage show that how the pair appeared to flee from a heavily armoured IDF convoy before being gunned down.

One bullet hit Adam in the back of the head, while Basel was shot twice in the chest, report revealed.

The teenager can be seen struggling on the ground in apparent agony for at least half a minute before he died, while Aden was killed instantly as bullet shattered through his skull.

However, the IDF dubbed them as terrorists from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The footage shows how the children were hit by gunfire from roughly 40-50 feet away.

The Israel forces claimed that Basel was holding an explosive device, when he was shot.

The teenager can be seen holding something in his hand at the time of the shooting, but it is not clear what the object was.

The boys cannot be seen throwing anything at the IDF convoy in CCTV footage, and most of them appeared to be running away when the gunfire rang out.

Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on human rights, said there was a possibility the IDF committed a war crime in killing the two boys upon reviewing materials provided by the BBC.

He pointed out that there may have been legal grounds for the IDF to dep
loy lethal force on Basel if he was in fact holding an explosive.

But he said there was no legal justification for the killing of eight-year-old Adam.

“This appears to be a violation of the International Humanitarian Law prohibitions on deliberately, indiscriminately or disproportionately attacking civilians, a war crime, and a violation of the human right to life,” Saul told the BBC.

Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its operations in Gaza, mostly due to brutal bombing campaigns that have reduced much of Gaza’s infrastructure to rubble.