Video footage coming out of the West Bank of three young men appearing to be shot indiscriminately by Israeli forces has the international community up and arms, and again pushing for Israel to show restraint in its pursuit of Hamas.
The video, taken in the town of Beit Rima, shows a young man standing in a central square, apparently unarmed and minding his own business, being shot. He drops to the ground and two others rush to his aid and they're also shot. Moments later, an IDF jeep is seen rolling into view, according to the Associated Press.
The incident left a 17-year-old boy dead and two others gravely injured. One of the wounded was shot a second when he attempted to hobble away. This is but the latest incident which the Israeli military appears to be shooting at Palestinians when no threat is evident.
An Israeli military spokesperson told the Associated Press the IDF entered the village on a "counter-terrorism operation."
They said the troops fired upon suspects who threw explosives and firebombs at them. The AP further states that it obtained a video from a local smoke shop that does not show anyone throwing explosives.
The IDF responded to AP by stating the video shows one of the Palestinians kneeling in front of an object just outside the frame was igniting a Molotov cocktail when he was shot. But the video does not show the first shot striking the kneeling man who the IDF states was a threat, but another man. His name is Nader Rimawi.
Conflicting Accounts of What the Video Shows
He told AP That the object was a stack of cardboard box and scraps of paper that 17-year-old Osaid Rimawi had gathered and was preparing to light to keep warm. Other videos and angles gleaned by the AP appear to corroborate the victims' story.Rimawi reportedly told the newswire that he and one of this six brothers were in the town square when they got word that Israeli soldiers were entering the village.
But they didn't believe they were in any danger because there had not been any confrontations. "We were with the young men standing at the roundabout of the town," said Mohammed Rimawi, 25. "We started looking around as we were standing and not doing anything."
The video is a half-hour long and shows their activity 20 minutes before the shooting. The men were walking in and out of frame as cars come and go. A crowd of men withers to under 10 men as the video proceeds. Then they scatter as Nader is struck by a bullet in the left leg.
His brother Mohammed is then seen running to help him before he is also shot. "We saw a sniper who started shooting. He shot him. I went to help him. Then he shot me," said Mohammed, who was struck by a bullet in his right hip.17-year-old Osaid Rimawi is then seen running to their aid when he too is struck. He later dies of his injuries. No weapons are visibile in the video.
Four armored Israeli vehicles arrive on camera 2 minutes after the shooting. One soldier kicks Osaid. After nearly 5 minutes, the soldiers leave the wounded Palestinians without making any arrests and ignoring the stack of boxes they were attempting to light. In December, three Israeli hostages escaped their Hamas captors in Gaza, waved a white flag and shouted in Hebrew, before they were shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
