Jerusalem
CNN
—
The Israeli military is investigating soldiers for throwing bodies from a rooftop in the northern occupied West Bank on Thursday, amid an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) incursion in the area that left seven dead, according to the Palestinian government, and has seen clashes and intense gunfire with militants.
The incident was filmed from several 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, though 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 feet of the body get stuck in what appears to be electrical or telephone cables, and it dangles over the edge, headfirst. One of the soldiers then reaches over to dislodge the person’s feet, and the body tumbles to the ground.
Approaching a second body on the roof, a soldier picks up the person’s hands and another picks up the feet. They swing the body back and forth, then toss it over the side.
Finally, a soldier uses his feet to kick a third body over the side of the building.
“This is a serious incident that does not coincide with IDF values and the expectations from IDF soldiers,” the military said in a statement to CNN. “The incident is under review.”
Militaries are required under international law to treat the bodies of enemy soldiers with respect, prevent them from being mutilated, and return them to the deceased’s family. The Israeli military often confiscates the bodies of militants killed in battle.
The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu Al-Roub, told CNN that the Israeli military took four bodies from Qabatya. He said that funeral for three others killed in the incursion would be held on Friday.
Ameed Shehadeh, a correspondent for Al-Arabi, also witnessed the incident.
“A bulldozer tried to demolish the house to bring the bodies down. That didn’t work,” he told CNN. “Soldiers went up and kicked and pushed the bodies off the roof, as we have seen. They kicked and pushed and threw three different bodies from one roof, and a fourth body was thrown off the adjacent roof a few meters below.”
Earlier in the day, the IDF said that it was conducting a “counterterrorism” operation in the area, and that soldiers shot and killed four militants. “The soldiers conducted exchanges of fire with terrorists, eliminating four. No IDF injuries were reported,” it said. CNN cannot confirm if the people seen in the video are those referred to by the IDF.
The IDF later said that along with the Israeli Security Agency, its forces had killed “the head of the terrorist organization in Qabatiya and six other terrorists.”
The IDF did not name the group it was targeting but said that several armed terrorists were identified last night who shot at the forces operating in the area. “The terrorists’ vehicle had weapons and explosives that caused a secondary explosion,” it added.
Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti called the treatment of the bodies “a barbaric act that shows the extent of the degradation and brutality of the behavior of the occupation army.”
Video shot earlier in the day showed a Palestinian militant with a rifle darting across the rooftops, with loud gunfire echoing off the concrete walls. Another video showed an Israeli soldier on the rooftop, shooting at the prone body of a man. A photo shows three bodies on the roof.
Later in the day an Israeli airstrike struck a car in the town, according to multiple videos from the scene. The IDF said in a statement that it was targeting “armed terrorists operating within a vehicle.”
Clashes between militants and Israeli security forces are ongoing in Qabatya with intense gunfire heard in the town well after sunset on Thursday.
The Israeli military has in recent weeks used increasingly militarized tactics in the occupied West Bank. Around 700 people have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since October 7, including more than 150 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Thursday that had treated eight people wounded by live ammunition, two of whom were in critical condition.
Lauren Izso and Tim Lister contributed to this report.