Ref: 57/2014
Date: 03 June 2014
Time: 11:40 GMT
PCHR Calls for Investigating the Circumstances;Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Civilian in Nablus
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) calls for conducting a neutral and impartial investigation into the death
of Alaa' Mohammed 'Awadh, 30, from Hawara village south of Nablus, as he was shot dead by Israeli forces at Za'tara
checkpoint, south of Nablus, on Monday night, 02 June 2014. Israeli forces claimed that the victim fired at them and
injured a soldier lightly, but no eyewitnesses were in the area at that time to deny or confirm the Israeli claim. A
PCHR field worker was able to obtain a testimony from the taxi driver who transported 'Awadh. The driver confirmed that
'Awadh was not carrying anything when he transported him to the checkpoint. PCHR emphasizes that it has documented
dozens of crimes of willful killings committed by Israeli forces, which constantly claimed that Palestinian fired at
them, but PCHR's investigations refuted such claims.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, and the testimony of the taxi driver who transported ‘Awad, at
approximately 23:35, ‘Alaa’ Mohammed ‘Awadh (30) from Hawara village south of Nablus, asked a taxi driver to drive him
to Za’tara Checkpoint, south of Nablus, which is around 4 kilometers away from the village. ‘Awad, who owns a shop for
cell phones, told the driver that he wanted to go to the checkpoint in order to receive a number of cell phones from
there. The driver took the aforementioned civilian to a place, which is 50 meters away from the southern side of the
checkpoint, and 'Awash got out of the car and stood in a cabin designated for settlers only. The driver drove his car
around 1 kilometer to the south till he reached a place where he is allowed to turn around and go back to Hawara
village. When he was on his way back, he saw ‘Awadh still standing in his place. When he came back, he saw the Israeli
soldiers stationed at the checkpoint stopping a black civilian car and searching it. At approximately 02:45 on Tuesday,
03 June 2014, the taxi driver received a call on his cell phone from an Israeli intelligence officer who told him that
he would come to arrest him. Around half an hour later, Israeli soldier raided his house and arrested him. They took him
to ‘Awadh’s shop and questioned him on the spot about transporting ‘Awadh to the checkpoint. The driver said that the
‘Awadh had nothing with him when he was in the car and that he drove him to the same place last night and transported
him back to his house. He did not know that he was killed until his death was declared via megaphones of mosques in the
village at approximately 05:30 today.
PCHR strongly condemns this new crime, which further proves the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against
Palestinian civilians in disregard for the civilians’ lives. Therefore, PCHR calls upon the international community to
take immediate and effective actions and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva
Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in
all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the
Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and
Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
ENDS