Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, December 24, 2017
On Friday Afternoon, 22 December 2017, Israeli forces killed 2 Palestinian civilians and wounded 111 others, including 12 children. In addition, dozens of civilians, including 5 paramedics, suffered tear gas inhalation, in the Gaza Strip and West Bank as Israeli forces excessively used force against participants in protests. Moreover, a Palestinian civilian in the Gaza Strip, succumbed to his wounds in a previous protest. These incidents came in light of the ongoing tense atmosphere following the U.S. President’s Donald Trump Decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and move the U.S. Embassy to it, constituting a dangerous precedent that violates the international law.
This high number of casualties, particularly killings, proves that Israeli forces deliberately killed civilians through direct sniper operations in peaceful and nonviolent protests, which is confirmed by deploying Israeli sniper officers and their existence adjacent to areas, where protests take place. Since the beginning of these clashes, there has been no serious harm or threat to soldiers’ lives. However, the Israeli forces continue their systematic crimes and indiscriminate use of excessive and disproportionate force against Palestinian civilians in disregard for their lives…