QABĀŢĪYAH – Israeli soldiers pushed four apparently lifeless bodies from rooftops during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene and videos obtained by AP.
The soldiers' behavior in the town of Qabatiya was the latest in a series of suspected violations by Israeli forces since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Human rights groups say the videos provide fresh evidence of how Israel routinely uses excessive force against Palestinians.
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The Israeli military said in a statement to AP that the incident, which it said would be reviewed, “does not coincide with (its) values and the expectations from (its) soldiers.”
A White House spokesperson called it “deeply disturbing,” and said Israel has pledged to investigate.
Residents of Qabatiya told AP the military later took custody of the four bodies, claims the military did not immediately comment on. One of the people dropped from a roof was identified by a relative and Israel as Shadi Zakarneh, who the military said was a militant leader in the town.
Since the war in Gaza began over 11 months ago, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, shot and arrested in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has waged a crackdown on militants linked to Hamas and other militant groups. Many of those killed have been civilians caught up in the raids.
In one video obtained by AP, three soldiers can be seen picking up what appears to be a stiff body and then dragging it toward the edge of a multi-story roof as troops stand on the ground below. The soldiers on the roof peer over the edge before heaving the body off.
On an adjacent rooftop, another video obtained by AP shows soldiers pushing three bodies from the roof. A soldier holds a body by its leg over the edge before dropping it to the ground. Soldiers then swung another body over the edge before kicking the third one off.
Photos captured by AP during Thursday’s raid show an Israeli army bulldozer moving near the buildings where the bodies were dropped. Residents said military bulldozers lifted the remains of the bodies and that soldiers then took the four bodies with them when they left.
“The bulldozer carried them and they took them without letting us say goodbye to them or to do a funeral for them," said Amjad Abu al-Roub, a resident of Qabatiya who witnessed the raid.
Al-Roub, who witnessed the attack, said Israeli forces stormed the town around 11:30 a.m., prompting a gunfight between Palestinians and the forces that killed four. He said the soldiers threw the four bodies from rooftops in the evening.
Israel said its troops had killed seven militants in total on Thursday. As of Friday, no militant group had claimed any of the dead as its fighters.
At a funeral for three Palestinian men killed in the raid — those whose bodies were not taken by the military — gunmen wearing caps bearing the insignia of Islamic Jihad’s Qabatiya brigade could be seen alongside crowds of mourners. At least one body was wrapped in the flag of Islamic Jihad, a radical Islamist militant group that operates in Gaza and the West Bank.
Hussein Zakarneh, 62, said one of the people pushed off of a roof was his nephew, Shadi Zakarneh, who he said was wanted by Israel and had previously spent time in an Israeli prison.
“He wanted to become a martyr,” Zakarneh said of his nephew.
Other journalists at the scene also witnessed the bodies being pushed off the rooftops.
Under international law, soldiers are supposed to ensure dead bodies, including those of enemy combatants, are treated decently. When withdrawing from raids, the Israeli army usually leaves behind any Palestinians killed by gunfire. Occasionally the army brings dead bodies into Israel.
“There is no military need to do this. It’s just a savage way of treating Palestinian bodies,” said Shawan Jabarin, the director of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, after watching the footage.
Jabarin said the treatment of the bodies was shocking but not surprising, and he was doubtful Israel would properly investigate the incident. The Israeli military rarely prosecutes soldiers in cases of reported harm to Palestinians, rights groups say.
“The most that will happen is that soldiers will be disciplined, but there will be no real investigation and no real prosecution," said Jabarin.
The AP reporter who witnessed the raid saw a blindfolded and shirtless Palestinian man kneeling before an Israeli army jeep and armed soldiers. Smoke billowed from several buildings that appeared damaged.
Later that night, the military said it struck a car in Qabatiya, killing three militants. The military released a grainy aerial video appearing to show a group of four men exiting a car, one firing two shots. The car is then struck from the air, prompting a large blast. The military said the car was carrying explosive devices and weapons. It said it confiscated the weapons and arrested seven people suspected of militant activity.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said that Israeli gunfire during the raid sent 10 Palestinians to the hospital, but all were in stable condition.
At least 716 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since the war erupted on Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The northern West Bank, where Qabatiya is located, has seen some of the worst violence since the war’s outbreak.
Israel says the raids are necessary to stamp out militancy, which has flared since Oct. 7. In that time, Palestinian gunmen have attacked Israelis at checkpoints and staged several attacks within Israel.
Earlier this month, Israel staged its deadliest raid into the northern West Bank since the war began, killing at least 33 people.
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Frankel reported from Jerusalem. AP reporter Jack Jeffery contributed reporting from Ramallah, West Bank.