Abdulnaser Farwana the head of the studies and documentation unit in the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission said on Wednesday that the martyrdom of the Palestinian girl Fatima Taqatqa 15 at the Israeli hospital Shaare Zedek after she was detained while injured is a crime that should not go unpunished and requires the prosecution of its perpetrators.
Farwana added in a statement that Taqatqa who is from Beit Fajjar town to the south of Bethlehem was detained on 15th March 2016 after being shot by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) near Gush Etzion checkpoint and entered into a coma.
He continued that despite the seriousness of her health condition the Israeli occupation authorities refused to release her and did not provide her with the necessary health care which led to her death on 20th May raising the number of the Palestinian prisoners who died while in detention to 211.
He went on to say that the incident of shooting Taqatqa is not the first of its kind at Gush Etzion checkpoint noting that many Palestinians were executed in cold blood while crossing this checkpoint which the Palestinians call “the checkpoint of death” for being the worst and most humiliating military checkpoint in the West Bank.
Farwana affirmed that Taqatqa was not the first to die from her injuries or after being arrested. The IOF shot many innocent citizens at the military checkpoints in the West Bank under various pretexts he stated some of whom directly died on the scene while others died after being detained including Mohammed al-Jallad who died in February 2017 three months after being injured and arrested.
Farwana explained that the IOF soldiers have escalated the field executions against Palestinians especially after the outbreak of the Jerusalem Intifada in October 2015.
Farwana pointed to the presence of dozens of injured prisoners in Israeli jails who survived after being shot and injured and who testified that they were subjected to torture field investigations medical negligence and other arbitrary measures.
He called on the competent institutions human rights organizations and the various media outlets to document and shed light on the extrajudicial killings practiced against the Palestinians and asked them to exert pressure on the International Criminal Court to investigate these crimes and hold their perpetrators accountable.
