West Bank footage shows Israeli troops using lethal force in Palestinian home, triggers concern

As two bullets ring out, the footage shows a group of adults and teens hurling rocks and then backing back. Raed al-Naasan falls around a corner, blood pouring through his shirt, badly wounded. He was slain on Tuesday, one of four Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers amid clashes in separate communities in the occupied West Bank that day.

And now, as violence in the area approaches unprecedented heights, footage of his killing is shining a new focus on Israel's use of lethal force. The army stated in the hours following his murder that soldiers used live gunfire in response to a suspect "seen tossing Molotov cocktails [petrol bombs]" at them. However, video footage and eyewitnesses indicate that this was not the situation when he was struck.

Over 140 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year, virtually all by Israeli troops. Civilians and armed militants are among those killed. Meanwhile, more than 30 Palestinians have been slain in a string of Palestinian assaults on Israelis and terrorist firing at forces conducting arrest operations. Tor Wennesland, the UN ambassador to the region, warned last week that the violence and military occupation were nearing a boiling point.




B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, is investigating Mr Naasan's murder, claiming that many demonstrators had been killed this year due to excessive use of force. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that it intervened to halt violent riots and that the event was being investigated.

FAQs:

1. Is the Palestinian Authority a part of Israel?
   The Palestinian territories are the two portions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that Israel has militarily occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War, notably the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
2. Is there a Palestinian nationality?
   Palestinians are legal citizens of the State of Israel, thanks to a 1980 modification to Israel's Nationality Law.