QABATIYA, West Bank — Israeli soldiers pushed three apparently lifeless bodies from rooftops during a raid in the northern occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene and video obtained by AP.
An AP reporter in the town of Qabatiya saw three soldiers push the bodies from the rooftops of adjacent buildings, making them disappear from view. It was the latest in a series of alleged violations by Israeli forces since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, which rights groups say reflect a pattern of excessive use of force against Palestinians.
“This is a serious incident that does not correspond to the values of the IDF and the expectations of IDF soldiers,” the army said in a statement, using its acronym. “The incident is being examined.”
Israel said its troops killed four fighters during operations in Qabatiya on Thursday.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah did not immediately confirm the multiple deaths, but said one person was killed in the city and Israeli fire sent 10 Palestinians to hospital.
In the video obtained by AP, three soldiers can be seen lifting what appears to be a stiff body and dragging it toward the edge of a roof as soldiers stand on the ground below. The soldiers on the roof peer over the edge before lifting the body.
On an adjacent rooftop, soldiers hold another apparently lifeless body by its limbs and swing it over the edge. In a third instance, a soldier kicks a body toward the edge before it disappears from view. AP photos taken during Thursday’s raid show an Israeli army bulldozer moving near the buildings where the bodies were dumped.
Other journalists at the scene also saw bodies being pushed from rooftops.
The identities of the dead and their cause of death were not immediately known.
When withdrawing from an operation, the army usually leaves behind Palestinians killed by Israeli fire. Sometimes it brings bodies back to Israel.
Under international law, soldiers are supposed to ensure that the bodies of enemy combatants, including those of enemy combatants, are treated decently.
“There is no military reason to do this. It is just a savage way of treating Palestinian bodies,” Shawan Jabarin, director of the Al-Haq human rights group, said after watching the video.
Mr. Jabarin said the video was shocking but not surprising, and that he doubted Israel would conduct a serious investigation into the incident. The Israeli military rarely prosecutes soldiers in cases of harm to Palestinians, human rights groups say.
“The most that will happen is that the soldiers will be punished, but there will be no real investigation or real prosecution,” Jabarin said.
The AP reporter who witnessed the raid saw a blindfolded, shirtless Palestinian kneeling in front of an Israeli army jeep and armed soldiers. Smoke rose from several buildings that appeared damaged.
While the world’s attention is focused on the far deadlier war in Gaza, less than 80 miles away, dozens of Palestinians have been killed, gunned down and arrested in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has been waging a months-long crackdown.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 700 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the war began on October 7. The northern West Bank has seen some of the worst violence since the war began.
Israel says the raids are necessary to end violence that has erupted since October 7. During that period, Palestinian gunmen have attacked Israelis at checkpoints and carried out several attacks inside Israel.
Earlier this month, Israel carried out its deadliest raid in the northern West Bank since the start of the war, killing at least 33 people.
Frankel reported from Jerusalem. AP writer Jack Jeffery contributed from Ramallah in the West Bank.
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