Days after Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) triggered global outrage for forcing an injured Palestinian man onto the bonnet of an army vehicle, more Palestinians have come out with similar accounts of how they too had the same experience.
Last week, a video went viral showing a Palestinian detainee tied up on the hood of an IDF vehicle. The footage showed a wounded man, identified as Mujahed Azmi, lying on the bonnet of a jeep as it drove past two ambulances in Jenin. The incident happened in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Israel defended itself stating that the action was against protocol and that the incident was being investigated. "The conduct of the forces in the video of the incident does not conform to the values of the IDF [military]," it added.
However, an investigation by the BBC revealed that two other persons had to endure the same treatment from the IDF during the operation in Jabariyat, on the outskirts of Jenin, last Saturday.
The BBC report identified one of the victims as 25-year-old Samir Dabaya, now in a hospital in Jenin. He alleged that he was shot in the back by Israeli forces during the Jabariyat operation, and lay face-down and bleeding for hours until soldiers came to assess him.
Samir added that the IDF soldiers, on finding him alive, beat him with a gun before carrying him to the jeep and throwing him on the hood. "They took off my [trousers]. I wanted to hold onto the car, but [one soldier] hit my face and told me not to. Then he started driving," he said. "I was waiting for death." A video of Samir, semi-naked, lying on the hood of a speeding jeep, marked with number 1, was verified by BBC.
Another Palestinian man, Hesham Isleit, too claimed to have been shot twice during the operation in Jabariyat before being forced onto the same military jeep, marked with the number 1. "They ordered us to stand up, and undressed us, then they asked us to get onto the front of the jeep.
The car was so hot, it felt like fire," Hesham told BBC. He added that though he tried to put his hand on the jeep, he couldn't as it was burning hot.
Meanwhile, Mujahed, who survived the assault, is recuperating in the hospital. He told the BBC that he hadn’t expected to survive the experience, and was saying his final prayers as he lay on the moving vehicle.
Mujahed added that he was beaten up violently before being tied to the bonnet. He was picked up by his wrist and ankles before being swung right and left. Though he fell to the ground, he was picked up and swung again, before being thrown onto the jeep.
The incident triggered international fury, with many equating it to the use of a human shield by Israeli forces from the Second Intifada, when Israeli troops were criticised for tying Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, to the front of an army vehicle. The use of human shields is prohibited by international law.