US joins calls for investigation into West Bank shootings

The United States has called on the Israeli government to investigate the fatal shootings of two Palestinian youths in the West Bank.

There has been mounting pressure on Israel and its allies to look into whether the two boys, who were killed by an Israeli soldier during Nakba day celebrations last week, had posed to a threat that prompted the shooting.

Jen Psaki, a spokesperson for the US state department, urged Israel to investigate the incident. “We look to the government of Israel to conduct a prompt and transparent investigation to determine the facts surrounding this incident,” she told reporters on Tuesday, “Including whether or not the use of force was proportional to the threat posed by the demonstrators.”

The US statement comes shortly after a similar call from a senior UN official.

Assistant UN secretary general for political affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco called for an "independent and transparent" probe into the circumstances surrounding the boys' deaths.

"It is of serious concern that initial information appears to indicate that the two Palestinians killed were both unarmed and appeared to pose no direct threat," said Fernandez-Taranco on Tuesday.

"The UN calls for an independent and transparent investigation by the Israeli authorities into the two deaths, and urges Israel to ensure that its security forces strictly adhere to the basic principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials," he said at a briefing of the UN Security Council.

The human rights group Defense for Children International released a video on YouTube showing Mohammad Mahmoud Odeh, 16, and Nadeem Siam Nuwara, 17, being shot by Israeli security forces in the city of Beitunia.

A 15-year-old, Mohammad Abdullah Hussein al-Azzeh, was shot in the back and left lung, and is currently in a stable condition at the Ramallah Medical Complex, according to Defence for Children International-Palestine, one of the organisations which released video footage of the incident.

At 1:45 pm, according to a timer on the footage, he appears to be shot in the back, and falls onto outstretched arms and then to the ground.

Seconds later, young people run towards him and start to carry him away from the scene. 

More than an hour later, at 2:58pm, the same area fills with smoke from fires that appear to be around 30 feet (9 metres0 from where the young people had been standing.

The second teenager is then allegedly shot as he walks towards the smoke, subsequently falling to his knees.

After DCI's release of the footage, Israeli human rights NGO B'Tselem put out several more videos which show the incident from different angles.

The acts "amount to war crimes," said DCI-Palestine's executive director Rifat Kassis, urging the Israeli authorities to conduct "serious, impartial and thorough investigations to hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes."

"The images captured on video show unlawful killings where neither child presented a direct and immediate threat to life at the time of their shooting," Kassis said.

B'Tselem spokesperson Sarit Michaeli told +972 web magazine that the evidence "might suggest intentional killing."

International outcry

Abe Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League - an organisation examining global anti-semitism - has criticised commentators jumping to conclusions about the shootings.

“The international community must respect the IDF’s right and responsibility to fully investigate this incident, and should refrain from rashly calling for extraordinary action before all the facts have been examined,” ADL Director Abe Foxman said, according to the Jersualem Post.

He described public comments on the event as "inappropriate and unwarranted."

In addition to denying that live fire was used in the incident, the Israeli Army has questioned the reliability of DCI's video, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

"The video in question was edited in a biased way and does not reflect the violence in the disturbance," the army said in a statement.

"An initial investigation with the forces operating in area of disturbance did not use live fire. Nevertheless, the military prosecutor has ordered a limited internal investigation into the matter."

Around 100 prisoners have been on a hunger strike since 24 April to protest at their indefinite confinement in prisons without charge or trial. All 100 prisoners demand that they be released immediately.

Under Israel's administrative detention law, Israeli military commanders can order the detention of West Bank Palestinians for terms of up to six months, which can be renewed indefinitely.

The latest fatalities brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank this year to 11.