On a hot August afternoon in 2021 as protesters confronted Israeli soldiers near the West Bank village of Beita, Imad Ali Dweikat stood far away from the commotion, next to several parked ambulances, to take a water break.
As he chatted with friends and lifted his water bottle to drink, Dweikat suddenly fell face-first to the ground. With temperatures rising into the 90s, his friends thought he had collapsed from the heat. But when they turned him over, blood started streaming from his chest where gunfire from Israeli forces had struck him. Dweikat, 38, a construction worker from Beita and father of five, died at a nearby hospital less than an hour later.
Over the last week, Aseel AlBajeh, a Palestinian advocate and researcher who helped document Dweikat’s killing, had been thinking about his story as details began to emerge about the killing of another protester in Beita: American activist Aysenur Eygi, who was shot by Israeli forces earlier this month. Though three years separated the killings, Eygi’s story seemed all too familiar.
Like Dweikat, Eygi had been standing with other activists a long distance from Israeli soldiers, far from any protesters confronting the military, when gunfire rang out and she suddenly dropped to the floor, according to eyewitnesses in a growing number of reports. Eygi died of a gunshot wound to the head. She was buried over the weekend in Turkey where she was born, drawing hundreds of mourners.
It became clear to AlBajeh, through her research for human rights group Al-Haq, that Israeli authorities’ use of live ammunition on civilians was a part of a larger pattern of targeting civilians to suppress protest movements.
“When I heard the news on [Eygi’s] killing, I was of course heartbroken, but I was not surprised,” said AlBajeh. “Because we Palestinians know that Israeli occupying forces and authorities do not care if you’re a Palestinian, a protester, if you’re a journalist, a paramedic, if you’re a child, if you’re an international standing in solidarity with Palestinians — their live ammunition is just targeting anything and anyone.”
For the report published by Al-Haq in March, AlBajeh helped record the cases of 10 Palestinians who were killed by Israeli gunfire in 2021 and 2022 in the same place: the village of Beita, just south of Nablus, whose residents have gathered for weekly protests against a nearby illegal Israeli settlement, Evyatar, which was built on Palestinian land on Mount Sabih in 2021. Residents of Beita feared the same fate of other nearby villages that have seen their lands annexed away by Israel and are subject to constant settler violence. Protesters often march toward the settlement, chanting, posting Palestinian flags along the way. Most gather for prayer nearby. Some hurl rocks toward Israeli soldiers or Border Police, who often respond with deadly force.
Since AlBajeh’s research ended, the Israeli military has killed six others at the same protest site near Beita, including Eygi, according to footage of the shootings, Palestinian media reports, and the International Solidarity Movement, the group Eygi had joined. Israeli soldiers have also killed two more civilians during military operations inside the village. Among the 18 dead are six teenage boys. None posed a threat to Israeli soldiers or Border Police officers, according to eyewitness statements highlighted in the Al-Haq report and a separate report published in 2022 by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
In several cases, people were shot while walking away from military forces, with their backs to the soldiers. More than 6,000 others have been injured by rubber-coated bullets, tear gas, and live ammunition during the protests, the Al-Haq report said. The report concluded that the Israel Defense Forces regularly employs shoot-to-kill and shoot-to-maim policies against Palestinian civilians to quell demonstrations. Such conduct, the report said, is in violation of international humanitarian law within the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights from 1966, which includes protections on the right of peaceful assembly. Both Israel and the United States are signatories to the international treaty.
“The reason we decided to do an entire report on Beita was because we felt that this village is a case study, an exemplification of a broader trend of a systemic use of force against Palestinian protesters whenever they decide to resist Israel’s illegal occupation,” AlBajeh said.
“This village is a case study, an exemplification of a broader trend of a systemic use of force against Palestinian protesters.”
Israel is currently conducting an internal investigation into Eygi’s killing. Its preliminary findings said Eygi was “indirectly and unintentionally” struck by IDF fire “which was not aimed at her,” but at “the key instigator of the riot” and said the shooting took place “during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces at the Beita Junction.”
A Washington Post investigation last week — which relied on eyewitness testimony, footage, and photos — disproved Israel’s narrative and found that Eygi was shot during moments of calm, after the height of the demonstration. She stood away from protesters, who had already moved far down the road, away from the Israeli military 20 minutes prior to her shooting. Neither the protesters nor Eygi posed an immediate threat to the military when a soldier fired and killed her.
Immediately after Eygi’s death, concerns arose over Israel’s ability to hold its own soldiers accountable for the killing. There have been mounting calls for a U.S.-led independent investigation, from Aysenur’s family to members of Congress, including Democratic lawmakers Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Pramila Jayapal from Aysenur’s home state of Washington.
President Joe Biden’s administration has declined to open a separate investigation until Israel completes its own inquiry into the incident. Last week, following Biden’s statement that the shooting was accidental, the White House released a statement condemning the killing as “totally unacceptable” and called it a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also criticized the killing as unprovoked and unjustified, urging the Israeli military to make changes in their rules of engagement in the West Bank.
The Israeli military spokesperson stated that investigations have been conducted for most of the 17 other shooting deaths near Beita since 2021 but did not disclose the outcomes. The military said that criminal investigations are launched whenever soldiers kill someone in the West Bank, except in cases of active combat or if no crime is suspected. However, there have been challenges in obtaining cooperation from complainants in these investigations.
AlBajeh, along with the International Solidarity Movement, found that there were no Israeli criminal investigations initiated into the killings of the 10 Palestinians she reviewed. Many Palestinians decline to participate in these investigations due to a lack of trust in the judicial process. A survey by Yesh Din revealed that only 1% of complaints against military misconduct led to prosecution, showing a lack of accountability for violence against Palestinians by the Israeli military.
During her research, AlBajeh spoke with the family of Mohammad Ali Khabisa, who was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier while he was at a protest. The family shared how their other sons were also affected by the Israeli military, with one being injured in a protest and another being held in administrative detention without charges. The family expressed the emotional toll of these incidents on their lives. Khabisa’s father informed her that he recently had heart surgery, which he believed was due to the stress and grief he experienced after losing his son.
AlBajeh documented several killings during the protests, including individuals like Ahmad Zahi Bani Shamsa, 15, Zakaria Maher Falah ‘Hamayel,’ 28, and others who were shot or injured by Israeli forces. Many protesters suffered severe injuries, with some losing limbs or eyes due to rubber-coated bullets.
The report highlighted Israel’s use of shoot-to-maim and shoot-to-kill policies during the Great March of Return, where many Palestinians were killed or injured. The ongoing protests in Beita saw villagers protesting against the Evyatar outpost, with clashes between settlers and protesters leading to casualties.
Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli activist, noted the use of live ammunition by Israeli forces against unarmed protesters. He criticized the portrayal of the protests as a military confrontation, emphasizing the imbalance of power between the Israeli military and Palestinian demonstrators.
Pollak also mentioned the death of Eygi, an American volunteer, and a 13-year-old girl during the protests, highlighting the violence and aggression from Israeli forces in the West Bank. The escalation of military operations in the region has raised concerns about the safety of protesters and civilians. The majority of attacks have occurred in Jenin, following the end of a 10-day Israeli military occupation of the city. During this time, homes were raided, roads and civilian infrastructure were destroyed, hospitals were besieged, and dozens of individuals, including civilians, were killed. Among the casualties was a 16-year-old Palestinian girl who was shot by an Israeli sniper while looking out of her window, as reported by the girl’s father. An investigation by The Intercept revealed that almost half of those killed by Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank in the past year were children.
Weekly protests outside Beita typically begin with a midday prayer before marching towards the illegal outpost. However, on a recent Friday, Israeli soldiers and armored trucks blocked the group from carrying out a memorial prayer for Eygi, a young victim. Despite the elders being allowed to pray, the younger men were turned away by the IDF. The soldiers, whose numbers had increased, prevented the group from conducting their usual protest.
Activist Pollak expressed that the incident was a clear message that any form of protest or resistance, whether by Palestinians or international solidarity activists, would not be tolerated. Despite this, he affirmed their commitment to standing with Palestinians for liberation. He mentioned plans to rejoin protesters in the upcoming Friday demonstrations.
An update added on September 17, 2024, includes a comment from the IDF on their rules of engagement following the article’s publication.
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