Updated translation of a joint statement originally published in Arabic on 8 January 2024.

According to our documentation, the IOF have killed 24 Palestinians since the beginning of 2024 in the West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, including three children, one woman, and a prisoner, bringing the number of Palestinians killed since 7 October 2023 to 346, including 84 children, two women, seven prisoners, and three Palestinians from the West Bank who were killed inside the Green Line.

Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemn the systematic killing of Palestinians by the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, on Sunday, 7 January 2024, which resulted in the killing of 11 Palestinians. This includes,  four brothers, two other brothers, one of whom was a child, one couple and a four-year-old girl.

The increased violence by the IOF in the West Bank is part of a series of attacks carried out against the Palestinian people, as the Israeli military continues to commit the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has been unfolding since 7 October 2023. This has taken the forms of killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, with intent to destroy a substantial part of Palestinians as a national group.

According to our preliminary documentation, on Sunday morning, 7 January 2024, the IOF killed seven Palestinians, including one child, as they raided Jenin Refugee Camp and city. At around 12:30 AM, the IOF raided Jenin city and reached Al-Jaberiyyat neighborhood close to Jenin Refugee Camp. As a result, confrontations erupted between Palestinians, including armed Palestinians, and the IOF, in which the IOF employed a helicopter to launch airstrikes. At around 5:00 AM, and while the IOF were withdrawing from Jenin city and refugee camp, a drone fired a rocket at a number of Palestinians present at a crossroads of the town “Muthallath al-Shuhada’' south of Jenin, killing six Palestinians, including four brothers, and two other brothers, one of them a child, leaving  some of their bodies in pieces. Of those injured, one succumbed to his wounds and died as a result, bringing the number of Palestinians killed due to this attack to seven.

The names of the seven killed Palestinians are: Ala’ al-Din Najeh Hasan Darwish, 29, Ahmad Najeh Hasan Darwish, 24, Rami Najeh Hasan Darwish, 22, Haza’ Najeh Hasan Darwish, 26, Muhammad Yassir Hasan Aso’us, 20, Wadee’ Yassir Hasan Aso’us, 17, and Rizeqallah Nabil Aso’us, 18.

On the same day, another young man was killed in Abwein village, north-west of Ramallah. Ahmad Mahmoud Hussein Mohareb, 28, was shot and was later pronounced dead after arriving at the Yasser Arafat State Hospital in Salfit city. He was killed after the IOF raided Abwein and confrontations erupted with youth in the village. Two other Palestinians were shot and moderately injured.

In another incident, and on the same day, 7 January 2024, three Palestinians, a couple and a four-year-old girl, were killed at a military checkpoint in eastern Jerusalem. According to our preliminary documentation, at around 5:00 PM, Muhammad Muzayyed Mustafa Abu Eid, 37, and his wife Duha Nabih Abd al-Rahman Abu Eid, 31, both residents of Biddu village adjacent to Beit Iksa village north-west of Jerusalem, arrived in a white vehicle to Beit Iksa military checkpoint, north-west of Jerusalem. The vehicle advanced towards the checkpoint, then derailed in the direction of the IOF, hitting two of them and causing minor injuries. Although the vehicle stopped at the checkpoint a few meters away from where the soldiers were stationed, the IOF soldiers immediately fired at the vehicle. As a result, Muhammad and Duha were killed. The IOF bullets also hit a public transportation vehicle preceding the white vehicle, as it was crossing the checkpoint, hitting and killing a 4-year-old child, Ruqaya Ahmad Oda Jahalin from Beit Iksa village. Further investigation of the incident is needed to determine its nature. Following the incident, the IOF closed the checkpoint and prevented paramedics from reaching and providing medical aid to three Palestinians, whose bodies continue to be withheld by the Israeli authorities to date.

In a statement posted on social media, the Israeli police claimed that the incident was a “ramming attack”, which took place at the Ras Biddu “crossing” in Jerusalem, injuring two police officers with minor injuries, and that Border Patrol forces had fired at the attacker and “neutralized” him.

According to our documentation, the IOF have killed 24 Palestinians since the beginning of 2024 in the West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, including three children, one woman, and a prisoner, bringing the number of Palestinians killed since 7 October 2023 to 346, including 84 children, two women, seven prisoners, and three Palestinians from the West Bank who were killed inside the Green Line.

Our organizations call on the international community to act immediately to stop the commission of crimes by the Israeli authorities in the occupied Palestinian territory and to equally apply international law away from double standards. We reiterate our call on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations conferred upon them and prosecute those accused of grave breaches.

We reaffirm the need to address the root causes that perpetuate the cycle of the Palestinian plight. The Question of Palestine lies upon the international community and its institutions, and must address it in a way that ensures the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, including their right to return. Otherwise, the Question of Palestinian and the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights will continue to be violated by Israel with an international silence, inaction, and complicity.