Israeli forces using wounded Palestinian man as human shield in Jenin raid

The man, identified as Mujahid Azmi from the Jabriyat neighborhood, was reportedly tied to the hood of a military vehicle.

A video circulating on social media shows Azmi, who was injured during an arrest raid, bound to the front of an off-road vehicle.

The footage captures the vehicle passing by two ambulances.

The Israeli army using an injured Palestinian civilian as a human shield tied to the front of a military jeep in Jabriyat (Jenin, WB) this morning. The same army which is justifying its war of annihilation in Gaza based on the human shielding argument. pic.twitter.com/7pBvp2pjq2

— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) June 22, 2024

According to Azmi’s family, when they requested an ambulance, Israeli soldiers took him instead, strapped him to the bonnet, and drove away.

Palestinian ambulance driver Abdulraouf Mustafa, speaking to Al Jazeera, confirmed that Israeli soldiers refused to hand over Azmi.

“The jeep passed by and the wounded man was on the hood,” Mustafa said.

“One arm was tied to the windshield and the other was on his abdomen. They drove past us and refused to give us the patient.”

The Israeli military stated that its forces were fired upon and exchanged fire during the raid, injuring a suspect whom they then apprehended.

The military acknowledged that soldiers violated protocol by transporting the suspect while tied to the vehicle.

“The conduct of the forces in the video of the incident does not conform to our values,” the statement read, adding that the events would be investigated.

Azmi was later released and taken to Jenin’s Ibn Sina hospital, where he underwent surgery for his injuries.

Medics at the hospital confirmed his treatment.

The incident has sparked widespread outrage amid escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, where frequent Israeli military raids, settler rampages in Palestinian villages, and Palestinian attacks have intensified since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territory, condemned the incident as “human shielding in action.”

She criticized Israel for turning international law “literally on its head,” warning that this could undermine multilateralism.

#HumanShielding in action.
It is flabbergasting how a state born 76 years ago has managed to turn international law literally on its head.

This risks being the end of multilateralism, which for some influential member states no longer serves any relevant purpose.… https://t.co/swwjiuJYmG

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) June 22, 2024

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, also condemned the incident and Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

“These Israeli-US massacres and war crimes must be stopped. American taxpayer dollars should not be used to kill, maim, and starve innocent civilians,” said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s national communications director.

He urged the Biden administration to end its complicity and recognize the humanity of the Palestinian people.

We today condemned the latest “Israeli-U.S.” massacres of Palestinian civilians in #Gaza and the use of a wounded Palestinian in the #WestBank as a human shield.https://t.co/t1u89FLzVB

— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) June 22, 2024

 Escalating Violence in Gaza Amid Israeli Military Assault

The assault in Gaza has intensified, with the Israeli military launching airstrikes on Palestinian refugee camps and other targets as part of efforts to combat Hamas.

On 6 June, Israeli forces bombed a United Nations-linked school in central Gaza, resulting in the deaths of at least 40 displaced Palestinians and injuring dozens more.

The military confirmed the bombing, stating that it targeted a Hamas compound within the UNRWA school in Nuseirat, claiming it was eliminating terrorists planning attacks against Israeli forces.

Subsequent Israeli attacks led to the deaths of 210 Palestinians and left over 400 wounded. This incident followed a special operation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that freed four Israeli hostages from the camp on 8 June.

More recently, on Sunday (23 June), Israeli airstrikes killed eight Palestinians near Gaza City.

Witnesses reported that the strike hit a vocational college run by UNRWA, which was serving as a distribution point for aid to displaced families.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14, indicated that while the intense fighting in Rafah was nearing its conclusion, the overall conflict with Hamas was far from over.

He stated that the war would continue until Hamas was completely removed from power.

Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has warned of catastrophic hunger levels in Gaza due to the ongoing assault.

The report projected that without an end to hostilities and full access for humanitarian agencies, famine could affect over one million people—half of Gaza’s population—by mid-July.

Since the beginning of Israel’s eight-month assault on Gaza following Hamas attacks on 7 October, at least 37,598 Palestinians have been killed and 86,032 wounded, according to Palestinian sources.