Several footage has emerged showing an Israeli soldier pushing what appears to be dead bodies off a rooftop during a military operation in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiyah. The incident occurred on Thursday and was captured on video by AFPTV, showing the soldier using his feet to roll the bodies to the edge of the roof and then pushing them over.
The Israeli military confirmed the authenticity of one of such footage on Friday, calling it a “serious incident” that they say conflicts with the values and expectations of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The army has stated that the matter is under review, joining a long list of similar incidents still under review by the IDF.
Under international law, armed forces are required to treat enemy bodies with respect, prevent them from mutilation and return them to their families. Israel has frequently held the bodies of slain Palestinians.
The Israeli military said the raid, which took place as part of a broader military operation in the West Bank, resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians and three others in an airstrike targeting a vehicle. The Palestinian health ministry reports that the ongoing raids, which began in late August, have claimed dozens of lives.
Violence has surged in the West Bank in parallel with the war in Gaza, which escalated after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 682 Palestinians in the West Bank since the conflict began. During the same period, at least 24 Israelis, including members of the security forces, have been killed in attacks by Palestinian resistance groups.
The IDF identified one of the Palestinian fighters killed in Qabatiyah as Shadi Zakarneh, who they described as a key figure responsible for orchestrating attacks in the northern West Bank.
This escalation in military activity, which residents say is of a scale not seen in two decades, has drawn international concern. On September 9, UN human rights chief Volker Turk highlighted the unprecedented intensity of Israeli operations in the West Bank.