In the early hours of Tuesday, Jenin Governorate in the northern West Bank witnessed yet another crime added to the record of ongoing Israeli occupation’s violations, as three Palestinians were executed by live fire followed by an airstrike from an Israeli helicopter near the town of Kafr Qud. Their bodies were then confiscated by the occupation forces.
According to details, Israeli occupation forces stormed the town with heavy military reinforcements and surrounded a location in an agricultural area. They then opened fire on three young men and bombed the vehicle they were in, setting it ablaze and sparking fires in nearby olive trees.
This marks the first time in nine months that the Israeli occupation has used warplanes for an airstrike in the West Bank.
This escalation is part of a recurring field policy that blatantly violates international legal norms regulating the conduct of an occupying power toward a population under its control. Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) prohibits willful killing and extensive destruction of property, acts classified as war crimes. Furthermore, withholding the bodies of the deceased is considered collective punishment and a grave violation of the dignity of the dead and the rights of their families to know the fate of their loved ones and receive their remains.
This incident comes amid an escalation of Israeli occupation’s assaults across the West Bank since the beginning of the year. Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams have seen continuous military operations resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries, the displacement of hundreds of families, and widespread infrastructure destruction.
Field reports indicate that since October 2023, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, with more than 10,000 injured and 20,000 arrested, including women and children.
These systematic practices, whether through field executions or aerial bombings, highlight Israeli occupation’s status as a regime that disregards international legal norms governing armed conflict. What is happening in the West Bank is not merely a “security campaign” but an organized escalation aimed at cementing control through brute force and subjugating the population through direct military terror.
If these policies continue without real accountability, they threaten to dismantle what remains of the international human rights protection framework and turn the West Bank, like Gaza before it, into an open field for gross violations. Immediate international action is needed to enforce accountability and prevent the occupation from becoming a model of total impunity.
