Israeli forces operating in the occupied West Bank engaged in "absolutely unacceptable" practice when they strapped an injured Palestinian man to a humvee as an apparent human shield, the State Department said Monday.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the department has reviewed the "shocking" footage that circulated on social media, adding that people "should never be used as human shields."
"The IDF should swiftly investigate what happened, hold people accountable," he said, referring to the Israeli military. "I saw the statement they put out that the actions were inconsistent with the orders those soldiers received, that it is being investigate. and the people involved will be dealt with accordingly. That is absolutely appropriate."
The gunshot-wounded Palestinian man could be seen in the video footage with bloods stains on his clothing, as he was was tied to the hood of an armored vehicle leading a convoy in the streets of Jenin in the northern West Bank.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the incident occurred in Jenin's Jabariyat neighborhood after Israeli forces besieged a house, suggesting that "the army used the wounded person as a human shield to exit the area without being exposed to explosives or gunfire from resistance fighters."
The witnesses said the Israeli military later handed over the wounded person to Palestinian Red Crescent Society teams who transported him to a nearby hospital for treatment.
They said the man was shot in his torso, but that his injury was not life-threatening.
"What happened is another scene of the daily crimes committed by the Israeli occupation (forces) against the Palestinian people, particularly against those who are in custody," Palestinian Prisoners Club Director Abdullah al-Zagari told Anadolu.
Al-Zagari blamed the crime on "the occupation (Israeli forces), in addition to the silent international community that has not taken action to stop these crimes."
Tensions have been high across the occupied West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 37,500 Palestinians since Oct. 7 when Hamas-led forces carried out a cross-border raid on Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack, and over 200 more were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
At least 553 Palestinians have since been killed in the West Bank, including 133 children, and nearly 5,200 injured by Israeli army fire in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
