Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) utterly condemns Israeli occupation forces’ ‘cold-blooded execution’ of 21-year-old Palestinian citizen Mohammad Ibrahim Shaham.
As well as offering our condolences to Mohammad’s family and loved ones, AOHR UK joins calls from Palestinian civil society for a full, transparent investigation into the killing, and demands that Ibrahim’s killers and their superiors be held accountable.
Early this morning, Monday 15 August, the occupation special forces stormed the Shaham family home in Kafr Aqab, in occupied East Jerusalem. According to Mohammad’s father, speaking to the local press, “Israeli special forces broke into our house just after 3 am and immediately opened fire on me and my son after we left our rooms to see what was happening (…) The [Israeli] army left my son bleeding for 40 minutes before taking him away.”
Whilst pro-occupation media outlets have reported that Mohammad initiated an ‘attack’ on Israeli forces, AOHR UK is clear that, in fact, those same forces aggressively entered a private home in occupied Palestinian territory and there arbitrarily killed yet another Palestinian citizen.
Since the beginning of 2022, at least 75 Palestinians have been killed by live fire from the occupation forces, including 14 children and 6 women. Mass arrests, home raids, and evictions have become a daily occurrence. The increase in such killings follows Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s decision to grant “all security forces complete freedom” to attack Palestinians. AOHR UK underlines the fact that such incitement is a blatant violation of international law and the basic principles of human rights.
Mohammad’s killing comes only days after the repeated shelling of the Gaza Strip. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health as of Friday last week, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel’s latest assault on Gaza stands at 49, including 17 children.
As well as those specific demands, the AOHR UK renews its call on the international community to hold Israeli leaders to account for their crimes against the Palestinian people, including via a full International Criminal Court investigation.
