18 October 2023 , 14:48
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This is the shocking moment a Palestinian civilian is shot by a man said to be an Israeli settler as tensions flare amid the continuing Israel-Hamas war.
Zakarya Adra was unarmed when trying to fend off the person approaching a crowd of Palestinian civilians with an assault rifle, before he was shot in the stomach from point-blank range. Video shows the armed man, wearing a red t-shirt, walking towards a group of Palestinians. Mr Adra holds his ground and then a very short scuffle ensues between him and the gunman. The red t-shirted man then steps back and shoots Mr Adra in the stomach.
The wounded man drops to the ground before his family and friends rush to his aid. The gunman is subsequently ushered away from the scene by a man in military uniform, thought to be a member of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Mr Adra, 28, has been fighting for his life after being wounded in the incident which took place on Friday near the southern West Bank village of At-Tuwani. The shooting has been blamed on residents of the Havat Ma'on settlement.
The shocking moment an Israeli 'settler' shoots an unarmed Palestinian in the stomach has been captured on camera (Mohammad Hureini)The wounded man's cousin, Mohammad Hureini, described his condition following Friday's attack as "not good" adding: "He is still in the hospital, we are waiting for news about him there. We don't know what to do, just pray for him." Mr Hureini's uncle, Hafez Hureini, is the founder of Youth of Sumud, a non-violent, youth-oriented Palestinian civil rights group.The Hureinis and Mr Adra come from a family committed to peaceful acts of resistance against the Israeli occupation.
A photo of apparently bloodstained, twisted metal said to have been taken from Mr Adra's body has since been produced, with the accusation it is evidence of the use of illegal explosive bullets. This particular type of ammunition - designed to cause maximum internal body damage - has been cited by organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross as illegal under customary International Humanitarian Law since the 1868 St Petersburg Declaration. Use of explosive bullets was explicitly reaffirmed as a 'war crime' following the First World War.
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In recent years there have regularly been claims - denied by the Israeli authorities - that the ammunition has been both supplied and used in the Middle East conflict. The Mirror contacted an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) spokesperson for comment on Friday's incident and the claims regarding explosive ammunition.
A bloodstained, twisted piece of metal was later extracted from Mr Adra's body (Mohammad Hureini)Violence in the West Bank has spiralled after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, following the Hamas attacks in Southern Israel and Israel's bombings and ongoing demolition of the Gaza Strip, with the region descended into a humanitarian crisis. Less than 60 miles from Gaza, the West Bank is another area of ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Situated in the Masafer Yatta region, At-Tuwani had already become a regular target for settler attacks in the past 18 months, after the Israeli Supreme Court permitted the forced eviction of Palestinians from Masafer Yatta and destruction of their homes to make way for 'Firing Zone 918'. The UN has labelled these evictions as a "war crime" and a "gross violation" of human rights.
Hafez Hureini and his family set up Youth of Sumud in 2017, an organisation dedicated to resisting occupation by using peaceful means to protect the Palestinian way of life. They walk children to school to protect them from harassment and help farmers harvest olives in the face of attacks on their crops. They also restore caves in once-evicted areas of Masafer Yatta to encourage displaced Palestinians to return to live on their former land.