Israelis used Palestinian man, as human shield in Jericho

Inside Jericho, clashes developed between dozens of Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers near the southern entrance, close to the settlement of Vered Jericho. The youths threw stones at the soldiers, who fired stun grenades, tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets at them.

At around 4:00 P.M., ‘Abd a-Rahim Gheith, a 34-year-old electrician and father of a month-and-a-half-old baby boy, finished his work for the day in Jericho and set out for his home in Dahiyat al-Bareed near the town of a-Ram. When he reached the southern entrance to Jericho, soldiers detained him, took his ID card, ordered him out of his car and handcuffed him. In video footage shot by freelance journalist ‘Adel Abu Ni’meh, soldiers are seen positioning Gheith’s car so it faces the demonstrating youths, then opening its doors and using the car as cover while they fire at the youths. They sat Gheith down on a traffic island about three meters away from them, handcuffed and defenseless. Some of the stones thrown at the soldiers hit Gheith, and he was injured in the legs, back and head. Stones also struck his car, damaging it.

The soldiers kept Gheith in this position for about two hours, and only then did they transfer him to a military ambulance for first aid. At around that time, the clashes ended and the soldiers informed him that he was free to go and told him to make his own way to a hospital. While Gheith, injured and in shock, searched for his belongings and his car keys to drive to hospital, his cousin arrived and said the Red Crescent had contacted him. Israeli soldiers did not return Gheith’s belongings. he was receiving first aid in the military ambulance. Gheith was taken to the Jericho state hospital. His discharge papers noted that he had sustained lacerations to the forehead, neck, back and both hands.

Using a passer-by for instrumental purposes, endangering his life and placing him in a humiliating position in total disregard for his rights and safety, is unlawful and fundamentally unacceptable. The fact that the soldiers behaved this way in broad daylight, for hours, indicates how routine the military’s arbitrary use of power against Palestinians has become throughout the West Bank – a daily reality that has existed for more than fifty years.