RAMALLAH (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Israeli occupation army’s central command has expanded open-fire orders in the West Bank, which has increased the number of Palestinian civilian casualties from Israeli gunfire recently, commanders and soldiers told Haaretz newspaper.
According to Haaretz, the army’s central command decided to implement the same shooting policy used during the Gaza war to kill any unarmed Palestinian, whether a suspect or not, in the West Bank.
“The orders made it easier for soldiers to pull the trigger at the behest of central command commander Avi Blot,” Haaretz said.
The newspaper quoted Israeli soldiers taking part in the ongoing military operation in the West Bank as saying that Blot gave them the green light to shoot with the intent to kill Palestinians without having to arrest them.
The soldiers explained that the recent high death toll of unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank was “unusual,” attributing it to Blot’s orders that allowed them to shoot and kill any Palestinian suspected of planting explosive devices.
Haaretz also cited commanders of army units as saying that the head of the army’s West Bank division, Yaki Dolf, ordered soldiers to shoot at any vehicle coming from a combat zone and heading towards a checkpoint.
On Sunday, a pregnant woman was killed and her husband was critically injured when Israeli soldiers opened fire at a car approaching an abrupt military checkpoint in the West Bank.
Haaretz added that soldiers recently used Palestinian civilians in the West Bank as human shields while searching buildings for explosives, the same tactic used by the Israeli army in Gaza.
