On September 18, Mohammed Al-Khatib, 24, from Beit Rima village north of Ramallah in the West Bank, died only few hours after being arrested by Israeli forces.
Based on the information of the family, around 40 Israeli soldiers came in a civilian minibus, with 15 of them entering the family home, and subsequently beating Al-Khatib while he was still in his bed.
The soldiers then brought him out of the house while he was unconscious.
His brother told The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)’s investigator:
“I woke up to the loud scream of my brother Mohammed, so I immediately went to his bedroom, which is separated from one meter away, When I arrived, I saw 10 Israeli soldiers severely and brutally beating him with their rifles and feet throughout his body.”
A few hours after the soldiers took Al-Khatib, Palestinian authorities called the family to announce that Al-Khatib was dead.
According to a PCHR investigation, the death of Al-Khatib was due to “the Israeli forces ... properly practiced torture against him immediately after his arrest.”
According to Amnesty International, there were six Palestinians killed within the 24 hours of Al-Khatib’s death, with some of them possibly amounting to war crimes.
All the more, all the Palestinians killed by the Israeli forces were not posing any immediate or serious threat.
“The deaths of six Palestinians within just 24 hours is a horrific demonstration of the unnecessary or excessive force deployed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT),” Amnesty stated.
To prevent the situation from escalating, Amnesty International asks “the international community ... to stop the delivery and trade of arms and military equipment to Israel.”
Amnesty believes that without sanctions enforced the Israeli violation of human rights will continue.
“A failure to do so fuels serious human rights violations against millions of men, women and children suffering the consequences of 50 years of military occupation, including 11 years of blockade in the Gaza Strip,” Amnesty stated.
Since 30th March, 180 Palestinians have been killed, including 29 children and 17,000 injured in response of the “Great March of Return.”