Israeli forces have killed at least seven Palestinians in a raid in the occupied West Bank town of Qabatiya, with soldiers seen in a video pushing what appeared to be bodies off a rooftop.
The army stormed Qabatiya on Thursday, backed by bulldozers, fighter jets and drones in an assault that lasted hours, and the Palestinian news agency Wafa confirmed on Friday that seven people had been killed.
Video footage verified by Al Jazeera showed soldiers pushing apparently lifeless individuals from the roof of a building they had previously surrounded and attacked with anti-tank rifle grenades; one soldier is clearly seen kicking one of the bodies until it fell over the edge.
In a post on X, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry described the act as a “crime” that exposes the “brutality” of the Israeli army.
Wafa reported on Friday that the Israeli army had thrown three men out of the building, having previously shot them on the roof, and that a military bulldozer had later taken away their bodies.
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Al Jazeera that the images showed “absolutely savage and inhumane behaviour”.
Barghouti said he was not sure whether soldiers had checked whether the people thrown from the roof “were still alive or not.”
Under international law, soldiers must ensure that bodies, including those of enemy combatants, are treated decently.
The Israeli military, which claims to have killed four Palestinian gunmen during the clashes, acknowledged video evidence of the abuse and said the incident was “under review.”
“This is a serious incident that does not comply with the law. [Israeli army] Values and what is expected of [Israeli army] soldiers,” he said in a statement.
Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, said he doubted Israel had properly investigated the incident.
“The most that will happen is that soldiers will be disciplined, but there will be no real investigation and no real prosecution,” Jabarin said.
“The images we have seen are horrific and are circulating in Palestine. But ultimately, Palestinians are not surprised. Israel has a history of disrespecting the bodies of Palestinians it kills,” said Leila Warah, reporting from Ramallah, as raids were carried out across the territory on Friday.
Siege of schools
The death toll rose to seven after Palestinian Red Crescent teams recovered the body of a Palestinian man, identified as Shadi Sami Zakarneh, from the building that had been besieged by Israeli forces.
During the attack on Qabatiya, the Israeli army also bombed a vehicle near a shopping complex in the city, setting it on fire in an attack that killed two young men, according to Wafa.
Doctors in the city confirmed another death from “wounds sustained during the Israeli offensive,” the news agency said.
Eleven people were injured by live bullets in the clashes. At least 1,000 children barricaded themselves in two schools and a kindergarten.
The children were eventually evacuated by bus with the help of the Palestinian Red Crescent, but the city remained under siege overnight.
Some 200 employees of the Education Directorate were also unable to leave their building because Israeli forces surrounded the compound, Wafa reported.
In a brief voice message, a teacher contacted by Al Jazeera described “a very dangerous situation around us.”
The latest incursion came less than a month after Israel launched the deadliest assault on West Bank towns since the second intifada.
On August 28, Israeli forces attacked the northern Palestinian towns of Tulkarem, Tubas and Jenin in raids that lasted for weeks and killed at least 39 Palestinians.
More than 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7, the deadliest year there since the United Nations began counting victims in 2005.
“You cannot say that this is part of the war because there is no war in the West Bank,” Barghouti said. “There is war on one side, military actions on one side against the civilian population.”
