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Israeli forces shell home in Birzeit

April 9, 2014 at 1:34 pm

On Friday, thousands of mourners attended the funeral procession of 26 year old Mu’atazz Washaha, who had been killed the previous morning following a dawn stand-off with Israeli soldiers. Israeli forces were reportedly trying to arrest Mu’atazz, an activist with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.


After refusing to hand himself over, Israeli soldiers bulldozed the garden and wall of his property in the West Bank village of Birzeit, just outside Ramallah, and then targeted the house with artillery shells, according to reports.

Villagers claim the victim was injured in the head during the shelling, after which he crawled into his bed. They state that Mu’atazz, who reportedly had not yet succumbed to the wounds, was then shot in the chest 3-4 times after Israeli soldiers stormed the house.

During the dawn raid, his brother, Ramiz Washaha, as well as Fadi Sedqi and Samir al-Qaisi were arrested. Earlier reports suggested Israeli forces were targeting another brother, Thaer.

The procession started with a military march in front of the Palestine Medical Complex before he was taken to his uncle’s home, which lies next to Muatazz’s property. On the morning of the funeral, people began to arrive at the home to wait for the arrival of the body, with the burnt out remains of the Birzeit house visible to all those who came to pay their respects.

After the body was laid to rest at the local mosque, youth marched to confront Israeli forces at the Atara checkpoint, north of Birzeit. 5 people were reportedly shot with live ammunition and dozens required medical attention following the excessive amount of tear gas which rained on the protesters.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that Israeli forces raided Birzeit to arrest a man suspected of “terror activity.”

“After the suspect was called to turn himself in, he barricaded himself inside his house, effectively resisting arrest. Under the premise that he had weapons in his possession, the forces used different means to complete the arrest, including live fire.”

One Birzeit resident said, “When you use this kind of weapon your aim is to kill, not to arrest.”

The Palestinian Authority condemned the killing in a statement, “The assassination of martyr Washaha represents a new violation of human rights. Occupation forces deliberately killed martyr Washaha.”

The PFLP and its military wing Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said that the “response is undoubtedly coming,” vowing to “continue to resist until the occupation is removed from all Palestinian soil.”

His death came as Amnesty International released a report criticizing Israel’s killing of dozens of Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank over the past three years, claiming their actions may amount to war crimes.

Report by Jessica Purkiss. Images by Mark Purkiss

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