IDF investigates soldiers who threw bodies from roofs in the West Bank

Jerusalem
CNN
—

The Israeli military is investigating soldiers who threw bodies from a roof in the northern West Bank on Thursday. The incident occurred during an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) incursion into the area that the Palestinian government said left seven people dead and sparked clashes and heavy gunfire with militants.

The incident was filmed from multiple angles by residents of Qabatya, near Jenin, and witnessed by an Associated Press (AP) reporter. CNN cannot confirm whether the men whose bodies were thrown from the building were dead, although their bodies are motionless and appear lifeless.

The longest video shows three Israeli soldiers standing on a rooftop. They can be seen pushing a body over the edge of the building. The body's feet get caught in what appears to be an electrical or telephone cable, and it dangles upside down over the edge. One of the soldiers then reaches over to untie the person's feet, and the body falls to the ground.

One soldier approaches a second body on the roof, takes the person's hands and another takes the feet. They swing the body back and forth and then throw it over the side.

Finally, a soldier kicks a third body over the side of the building.

“This is a serious incident that is not consistent with the IDF's values ​​and expectations of IDF soldiers,” the military said in a statement to CNN. “The incident is being reviewed.”

Under international law, the military is obliged to treat the bodies of enemy soldiers with respect, prevent their mutilation and return them to the families of the deceased. The Israeli military often confiscates the bodies of militants killed in battle.

Jenin Governor Kamal Abu Al-Roub told CNN that the Israeli military had taken four bodies from Qabatya. He said the funeral of the three others killed in the incursion would take place on Friday.

Ameed Shehadeh, a correspondent for Al-Arabi, also witnessed the incident.

“A bulldozer tried to demolish the house to get the bodies down. That didn't work,” he told CNN. “Soldiers went up and kicked and pushed the bodies off the roof, as we saw. They kicked and pushed and threw three different bodies off one roof, and a fourth body was thrown from the neighboring roof several meters below.”

The Israeli army had previously said it was conducting an “anti-terror” operation in the area, during which soldiers shot dead four militants. “The soldiers exchanged fire with terrorists and killed four. No injuries were reported by the Israeli army,” it said. CNN cannot confirm whether the people shown in the video are the people mentioned by the Israeli army.

Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti described the treatment of the bodies as “a barbaric act that shows the extent of the humiliation and brutality of the behavior of the occupying army.”

A video taken earlier in the day showed a Palestinian militant with a rifle scurrying across the rooftops as loud gunfire echoed off the concrete walls. Another video showed an Israeli soldier on the roof shooting at the prone body of a man. A photo shows three bodies on the roof.

Later in the day, an Israeli airstrike hit a car in the city, several videos from the scene show. The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that they had attacked “armed terrorists in a vehicle.”

Clashes between militants and Israeli security forces continue in Qabatya, and heavy gunfire could be heard in the town long after sunset on Thursday.

The Israeli military has used increasingly militarized tactics in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, around 700 people have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, including more than 150 children.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that eight people injured by live ammunition had been treated, two of them in critical condition.

Lauren Izso contributed to this report.