UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov on Monday demanded an “independent investigation” after a Palestinian youth was beaten to death by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank.
Amer Abdel-Rahim Snobar was pronounced dead on Sunday morning in a Ramallah hospital after being beaten around the neck, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
#Palestinian Teenager Dies after Being Beaten by #Israeli Soldiers https://t.co/zPY2NRgJ4k via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/A4BT0RH6CV
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 26, 2020
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army acknowledged that the teenager had been involved in an incident with soldiers but denied they beat him.
A Palestinian youth who said he witnessed the incident confirmed that Snobar had been beaten.
“They beat him for five minutes. He was shouting incessantly, then his voice stopped suddenly,” he told a local television station.
In a speech to the UN Security Council, Mladenov called for an independent probe.
#UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov demands an “independent investigation” after a Palestinian youth dies following a weekend confrontation with Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank.https://t.co/4eCYAeEQaN
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) October 27, 2020
“There are conflicting claims about the circumstances and cause of death,” the UN envoy said.
“I urge a prompt and independent investigation into the events that led to the death of the boy.”
On Twitter, the British consulate in Jerusalem urged Israel “to investigate the allegations surrounding his death”.
“In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within Israel,” Human Rights group B’tselem reported.
“Most of these deaths were a direct outcome of Israel’s reckless open-fire policy, authorized by the government and military and backed by the legal system,” the group added.
(Palestine Chronicle, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Social Media)
