Recently, there have been a great number of events in which, during the early hours of the morning, soldiers ambushed next to openings in the Separation Fence in the northern West Bank, shot live fire on migrant workers passing through, and injured them. There were no arrests made in any of the instances of fire, indicating that the people who were shot did not pose a threat to the forces.
On 9.2.2021 we appealed along with Kav LaOved to the Central Command General and Military Advocate General, demanding they immediately stop the open fire policy against anybody passing through holes in the fence, as well as investigate the events and bring to justice those soldiers and their commanders. Attorney Roni Pelli emphasized that the open fire regulations permits using live fire in handling violent events, involving a real and immediate danger to the life of soldiers or civilians, and only after all verbal and non-lethal means are exhausted. The passage of workers for means of employment, even if illegally, is not a violent event and is certainly not life threatening, and therefore there is no justification to fire in those instances.
“The regularity of these events indicates that this is not a mistake, but rather an intentional, defective policy”, said the appeal. “This situation mandates an all-around systematic examination. Orders which command the use of live fire at someone who is non-threatening are orders with a black flag waving upon them”.