Desecration of Palestinian bodies by Israeli soldiers: another form of dehumanization

In recent months, B’Tselem has investigated several incidents in which Israeli forces were documented desecrating and mutilating the bodies of Palestinians in the West Bank. Ample footage from the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip shows that this practice is pervasive there as well. It includes running over bodies with military vehicles, scooping and burying bodies using bulldozers, and more. The increased prevalence of these actions is another manifestation of the dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli public opinion, a process that has rapidly accelerated since the war began in October 2023.

On 19 September 2024, a video showing a group of Israeli soldiers throwing the bodies of four Palestinians off the roof of a building was posted online. The Palestinian men were killed in an exchange of fire with military forces, during a raid on the town of Qabatiyah, in Jenin District. Forced to respond after the footage was circulated by major international media outlets, the Israeli military stated: “This is a serious incident that does not conform to the values of the IDF and what is expected of IDF soldiers. The incident is under investigation.” The results of the investigation, released about two months later, revealed that the soldiers’ commanders had cleared their actions, which complied with a Shin Bet directive to bring the bodies to Israel. The investigation also indicated that the Israeli military has no legal or moral reservations about abducting bodies or using a bulldozer bucket to move them in a degrading manner. Footage from other incidents in which Palestinians were killed confirms that the military persists in these practices.

Beyond the moral abyss this practice exemplifies, desecrating bodies and despoiling the dead is also a breach of international law and may constitute a war crime. In one of the cases described below, the bodies were desecrated after a soldier shot a man already dead or incapacitated to “confirm the kill” – another violation of international law, which prohibits firing at anyone who no longer poses a threat.

The desecration of dead bodies follows Israel’s longstanding policy of abducting and withholding Palestinians’ bodies to use as future bargaining chips. This practice constitutes a serious violation of the duty to respect the dead and denies families the fundamental right to part with their loved ones and give them a proper burial. While an extended bench of Israel’s High Court of Justice upheld this practice in 2019, it is inconsistent with international law, which prohibits both hostage taking — including, by implication, deceased individuals — and collective punishment. Furthermore, international law clearly favors the return of human remains.

The explicit prohibitions in international law against desecrating and holding bodies for bargaining purposes, Israel’s long history of degrading treatment of Palestinians’ bodies, and basic human morality should have prevented such appalling practices. However, the ongoing dehumanization of Palestinians, combined with Israel’s rejection of international laws and norms, has led not only to the continued use of these practices but to their expansion.

Details of the incidents:

After two women and three armed men were killed by a missile strike in Tulkarm Refugee Camp, four of the bodies were abducted in a bulldozer, 23 July 2024

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Early Tuesday morning, 23 July 2024, military, Border Police and Shin Bet forces raided Tulkarm Refugee Camp. At around 7:00 A.M., after a military bulldozer destroyed infrastructure in the streets of the al-Masalmeh neighborhood in the center of the camp and then left, several people went out into the street. Soon after, the military fired a missile from an aircraft at a group of Palestinians in the street, killing five: Muhammad Abu ‘Abdu (31), a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade operative; Ashraf Nafe’a (18), a senior Hamas military wing operative; and Muhammad Radwan (36), a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade operative, all of whom were armed; as well as two women – Iman ‘Obeid (50), and her daughter Bayan (22). Several other people were injured. Iman ‘Obeid, who used to help the wounded in the camp, was wearing a rescue services vest. Shortly before the strike, she had her picture taken holding a gun belonging to one of the armed men, which she returned to him immediately. No fire exchanges were taking place at the time.

After the five were killed, a military bulldozer arrived and loaded the bodies of Bayan ‘Oeid and the three men onto its bucket and took them away covered in dirt and rubble. Israel is still holding their bodies. Iman ‘Obeid, who was slightly farther away, was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

That same day, an exchange of fire broke out in another part of the camp between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians. The military killed Yazan ‘Abdu (31), an al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade operative, injured several others, and arrested some of them. The soldiers tied one of the wounded detainees, Dhaher Raddad (19), a Hamas military wing operative, to the hood of a military vehicle, which drove through the camp, using him as a human shield. Raddad died of his wounds in an Israeli hospital, in Israel Prison Service custody, about two days later.

Imtithal Salem, 30, who was injured in the missile strike, gave her testimony to B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 30 July 2024:

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At midnight between Monday and Tuesday, Israeli military forces raided Tulkarm R.C. I heard gunfire and explosions throughout the camp. I went to sleep and woke up around 6:00 A.M. As I was making myself something to drink, I heard the sound of a bulldozer approaching our neighborhood.

I looked out the window on the second floor of the building and saw the bulldozer destroying the façades of houses on the street. Then, it drove toward one of the camp’s main roads. Around 6:30 A.M., I saw from the window my friend Iman and her daughter Bayan standing in the middle of the neighborhood square. I was glad to see them outside and went out to join them. After I stepped out, three armed men from the neighborhood, whom we knew, showed up: Ashraf Nafe’a, Muhammad ‘Abdu and Muhammad Radwan.

We walked a bit down the street, and near the entrance to the alley leading to Iman’s house, I saw her two other daughters, Roza and ‘Anud, and joined them. At that moment, I saw Ashraf Nafe’a hand his gun to Iman. She held it for about 30 seconds and then gave it back to him. Iman was a nurse, and she volunteered privately to help the wounded in the camp.

Suddenly, a missile struck the corner where Iman, Bayan and the armed guys were standing, and there was smoke and flames everywhere. Roza and ‘Anud, who were next to me, were hit by fragments in the abdomen and legs, and I was hit by a piece in my eyelid and head. We managed to get into the house we were standing next to. We stayed there for about two hours until we could be taken to the hospital.

After the missile strike, the bulldozer came back to the same street, scooped up the bodies of the armed men and Bayan, and the military took them. Local residents managed to pull Iman’s body away after the explosion, so the soldiers didn’t find her.

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After soldiers fatally shot Tawfiq Qandil, 83, a military vehicle crushed his legs in the city of Jenin, 30 August 2024

On 28 August 2024, Israel launched Operation Summer Camps, during which its forces raided numerous Palestinian cities and refugee camps in the northern West Bank. In the first phase of the operation, forces simultaneously raided several camps, focusing mainly on the city of Jenin and Jenin Refugee Camp, where they operated for about ten days, killing dozens of Palestinians and causing heavy damage to infrastructure in the camp.

On the first day of the operation, Israeli forces took over several rooftops in the eastern neighborhood of the city of Jenin, including the Qandil family’s. They forced family members living on the upper floors to the ground floor. Two days later, on Friday afternoon, 30 August 2024, Tawfiq Qandil, an 83-year-old man with Alzheimer’s, went out for a walk in the neighborhood, as he usually did. About two hours later, Israeli forces shot and killed him. Then, at least one military vehicle ran over his legs, as his body lay in the decimated street.

Qandil’s son ‘Arafat Qandil, 48, a father of four, gave his testimony to B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 8 September 2024:

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On Friday afternoon, 30 August 2024, my father, who had Alzheimer’s, went out. He used to go out and walk around the city. He left at around 4:30 P.M. At around 6:45 P.M., I got a call from a friend who told me he saw my father walking near Khaled Ibn al-Walid Mosque in the eastern neighborhood of Jenin, and that moments later, gunfire was heard. The friend didn’t see where the shots came from.

I started calling hospitals in the city to see whether they received any elderly casualties, but they said no. Half an hour later, I got a call from a volunteer medic who told me they had evacuated my father, who had been killed, and his body had gunshot wounds. My father’s body was transferred to a-Razi Hospital, which is close to where we live, but no one from the family could make it to the hospital right away because of the military’s presence in the area.

Later that evening, the hospital administration announced the mortuary’s refrigerators had lost power due to infrastructure damage in the area. I went to the hospital and managed, with some friends, to transfer my father’s body to a medical center in the town of Qabatiyah, where they had working refrigeration units. He stayed there until the military operation in Jenin and Jenin Refugee Camp ended in the early morning hours of Friday, 6 September 2024. We buried him that afternoon. Before the burial, a doctor examined his body and found gunshot wounds to the head, eye, mouth, and chest. His legs were crushed because at least one military vehicle had run over them while he was lying dead on the ground. There was a video posted showing my father’s body lying in the street and a military vehicle driving over his legs.

The body of Majed Abu Zeinah, 16, killed by soldiers during a raid on Tubas and al-Far’ah Refugee camp, was desecrated with a military bulldozer, 5 September 2024

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On Thursday, 5 September 2024, at around 1:00 A.M., military, IPS and Shin Bet forces raided al-Far’ah Refugee Camp from several directions. Shortly afterward, as Majed Abu Zeinah (16) and another person were walking to the home of Abu Zeinah’s relative, they came across a special unit of the Israel Prison Service about 30 meters away. One of the unit members fired a single bullet at them. The other person fled, while Abu Zeinah remained in place. The forces ordered him to approach. When he obeyed, one of them shot him in the leg, and he fell.

As Abu Zeinah lay wounded on the ground, a member of the Israeli forces interrogated him in Arabic about a gun and the identity of the person who had fled. He ordered Abu Zeinah to remove some of his clothing. A short while later, he shot him in the upper body, killing him. The forces prevented a nearby ambulance from evacuating him.

Video footage shows a military bulldozer arriving at the scene about half an hour later. The operator tried to pick up Abu Zeinah’s body several times, rocking it to and fro, and repeatedly dropping it to the ground. At a certain point, Abu Zeinah’s pants came off. The bulldozer then drove through the camp with the body in its bucket. It was found the next morning near a gas station, about two kilometers from the scene of the incident.

That night, the military also fired a missile from an aircraft at a group of armed Palestinians in the Tubas area, killing five: Ahmad Abu Dawas (22), Muhammad Abu Jum’ah (30), Qusai ‘Abd a-Razeq (26), Muhammad Abu ‘Ara (22), and Muhammad Zbeidi (21), all Islamic Jihad military wing operatives. Several others were injured. One of them, Seif Abu Dawas (31), died of his wounds on 16 September 2024.

Y.S., 41, gave his testimony to B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh on 10 September 2024:

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I saw soldiers on the street near where I live, and then I saw Majed come out and walk toward his grandfather’s and uncles’ house, which is in the same area. There was another person with him, and when they came out of the alley, they came across soldiers who were about 30 meters away, or maybe even less. Then, one of the soldiers fired a shot at them, and I think a fragment hit the guy who was with Majed. He ran back and disappeared.

One of the soldiers ordered Majed to stop in clear Arabic. Majed stopped where he was, about 25-30 meters from the soldiers. The Arabic-speaking soldier gestured for him to approach. When Majed was about 10 meters away, the soldier shot him in the leg, and he fell. The soldier went up to Majed, who was injured, and asked him more than three times, “Where is the gun? Where is the gun?” Majed kept answering, “I don’t know. I don’t have a gun.” The soldier asked where he had been going, and Majed said, “To my grandfather’s house.” The soldier accused him of lying and asked about the person who was with him.

The soldier then ordered Majed to undress, but Majed couldn’t remove his pants and told the soldier he couldn’t. The soldier replied, “Then I’ll shoot you.” Majed begged him not to shoot and managed to take off his shirt in the meantime. I heard another soldier telling the Arabic-speaking one, “Don’t shoot him, he’s just a kid.” But the Arabic-speaking soldier said, in Hebrew and Arabic, “He’s a terrorist,” and shot Majed once in the neck. Then, everything went silent.

I saw an ambulance coming, and the paramedics shouted to the soldiers in Hebrew, asking them to let them go to Majed and give him first aid. The soldiers didn’t let them near. I think one soldier even fired a shot in the air to scare them away.

Majed lay there for about half an hour. Then, a large bulldozer came and drove right up to his body. The driver tried to scoop Majed up for over seven minutes. He kept catching him by the pants, and then he would fall, until finally, his pants came off, and he was left naked. The bulldozer pushed the body against a wall to lift it. When it finally managed to lift him, half of Majed’s body was hanging outside the bucket, head down. It carried him about 50 meters, towards a fence, and then he fell again. The bulldozer picked him up again and drove to the wall. Majed’s head was between the bulldozer’s bucket and the wall when the bulldozer got close to the wall. It was a horrifying sight — a crime I’d never seen before. The body fell again, and the bulldozer picked it up, and pieces of concrete fell on it. Then the bulldozer drove through the camp neighborhoods with the body, followed by a military jeep. I think it was meant to scare people.

In the morning, after the military left the camp, I heard they dumped Majed’s body near a gas station, at least two kilometers from where he was killed.

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After seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in Qabatiyah, the bodies of three were desecrated, 19 September 2024

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On Thursday, 19 September 2024, at around 11:30 A.M., a special forces from the Duvdevan (undercover) unit surrounded the Lubani family home in the a-Zakarneh neighborhood of Qabatiyah. Four armed operatives climbed to the roof via an external staircase and were fatally shot by the forces. One of them, Ahmad Lubani (27), an Islamic Jihad military wing operative, fell from to a lower roof. The other three, ‘Omar Abu a-Rob (24), Fadi Hanaishy (27), and Muhammad Abu a-Rob (28), all Islamic Jihad military wing operatives as well, remained on the roof. Soldiers who climbed up shot at least one of the men again to “confirm the kill.”

The soldiers then climbed off the roof as forces continued firing live rounds and shoulder missiles at the house. During the fire exchange, Shadi Zakarneh (36), a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade operative, was killed. Several hours later, another group of soldiers climbed onto the roof. In footage filmed by neighborhood residents, the soldiers are seen kicking the bodies off the roof and into the street. A bulldozer then scoops them up and takes them away. Zakarneh’s body was recovered by Palestinians from the building only after the military left town.

During the siege on the Lubani home, Israeli forces also shot a 16-year-old boy who was watching the events with his father from a window nearby, seriously wounding him. Clashes broke out in other parts of the neighborhood, and Muhammad Kmeil (20), an Islamic Jihad military wing operative, was killed in a fire exchange. At around 7:30 P.M., the military fired a missile from an aircraft at a car carrying Mustafa Zakarneh (23), a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade operative, killing him. Around 10 other Palestinians were injured in the town during the raid, some of whom had not been involved in any clashes. One youth who threw stones and posed no serious threat was also injured.

A.Z. gave his testimony to B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 22 September 2024:

At around 11:30 A.M., we heard women screaming from a neighbor’s house. I looked out the window and was shocked to see Israeli special forces surrounding the Lubani family home. They are our neighbors and relatives, and their house is just 20–25 meters from ours. I saw four young men climb to the roof and realized they were surrounded with no way out.

One of them was shot on the way up and fell onto the tin roof of an adjacent building. I saw the other three being shot while on the rooftop and collapsing. They had weapons, but I don’t think they had time to use them because the soldiers deployed around the house shot them immediately. About half an hour after they were killed, I saw soldiers go up to the roof, and one of them fired a shot at one of the guys. The soldiers climbed off the roof a few minutes later.

I kept hearing live rounds and shoulder missiles being fired. I also saw a heavy bulldozer arriving and trying to get its bucket up to the bodies on the roof and failing. Then, at around 6:00 or 6:30 P.M., I saw soldiers go up to the roof again. To my amazement, they started kicking the bodies of the three guys and rolling them until they fell off the roof. The house has only two floors. They could have carried the bodies down. They finally pushed the three bodies off, and the bulldozer driver down below scooped them up with the bucket barbarically.

My 16-year-old son and I were watching what was going on from our house. Suddenly, a soldier fired live rounds at us. Two bullets hit my son’s upper body. A few young men and I took him to Jenin Hospital right away. He is still in the ICU, in serious condition. We didn’t take part in the fighting. We were just watching from our balcony.

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After two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in Tammun, the body of ‘Aref Bani ‘Odeh was desecrated, 5 November 2024

On the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, 4–5 November 2024, Israeli forces raided the town of Tammun and al-Far’ah Refugee Camp in Tubas District. During the raid, fighting broke out between the Israeli forces and armed Palestinians, including a fire exchange, attempts by Palestinians to use IEDs against Israeli vehicles, and Israeli airstrikes. At around 3:00 A.M. on 5 November 2024, Israeli forces surrounded a house in Tammun, and a fire exchange ensued. The Israeli forces fired a missile at the house from the air, and parts of it were demolished by a military bulldozer. Hani Bani ‘Odeh (51), a senior Islamic Jihad military wing operative, and ‘Aref Bani ‘Odeh (40), also an Islamic Jihad military wing operative, were killed in the fire exchange. A military bulldozer operator then loaded ‘Aref Bani ‘Odeh’s body into the bucket and drove out of town with the body on public display.

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Mahmoud Bani Matar, 31, a father of four, gave his testimony to B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh on 17 November 2024:

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That morning, I realized the town had been raided, and no one could come out until the military left. I heard that the forces had surrounded a house and that two people were killed, and the military had taken one of the bodies. I heard gunfire, but it was far from my house.

At around 6:30 A.M., I was on my rooftop, looking over the railing. I saw military jeeps making their way out of town on a road that passes near my house. Then, I saw a bulldozer belonging to the occupation forces carrying the body of a man, half-naked, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts. I saw his head and legs had been hit. He was just a few meters away from me.

I wasn’t sure, but I thought the body in the bulldozer’s bucket was ‘Aref’s. We’re neighbors, and his shirt looked like one of ‘Aref’s. I didn’t tell anyone because I wasn’t 100% sure and didn’t want to cause confusion.

The bulldozer drove east out of town with ‘Aref’s body in the bucket, followed by military jeeps. It was painful to watch - taking a man who’s been killed like that - why didn’t they evacuate him in an ambulance, or even a military jeep? The soldiers must have wanted to show it to the townspeople to scare them. They killed him and desecrated his body. It’s inhuman. I keep seeing those images in my mind.

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