Israeli soldiers pushed 4 apparently lifeless bodies from rooftops during a raid in the West Bank

Israeli soldiers pushed four apparently lifeless bodies from rooftops during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene and video obtained by the AP.

The behavior of the soldiers in the town of Qabatiya was the latest in a series of suspected violations by Israeli forces since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Human rights groups say the videos provide new evidence of how Israel routinely uses excessive force against Palestinians.

The Israeli military said in a statement to the AP that the incident, which it said would be reviewed, “does not coincide with (its) values ​​and expectations from (its) soldiers.”

A White House spokesman called it “deeply troubling” and said Israel was committed to investigating.

Residents of Qabatiya told the AP that the army later took custody of the four bodies, they say the army did not immediately comment.

One of the people thrown from the roof was identified by a relative and Israel as Shadi Zakarneh, who the army said was a militant leader in the city.

Since the war in Gaza began more than 11 months ago, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, shot and arrested in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has cracked down on militants linked to Hamas and other militant groups.

Many of those killed were civilians caught up in the raids.

In a video obtained by the AP, three soldiers can be seen picking up what appears to be a rigid body and then dragging it to the edge of a multi-story roof as troops stand on the ground below.

The soldiers on the roof look over the edge before picking up the body.

On an adjacent rooftop, another video obtained by the AP shows soldiers pushing three bodies off the roof.

A soldier holds a leg body over the edge before throwing it to the ground.

The soldiers then threw another body over the edge before kicking the third.

Photos taken by the AP during Thursday’s raid show an Israeli army bulldozer moving near the buildings where the bodies were dumped.

Residents said that military bulldozers lifted the remains of the bodies and that the soldiers then took the four bodies with them when they left.

“The bulldozer carried them and they took them without letting us say goodbye to them or give them a funeral,” said Amjad Abu al-Roub, a resident of Qabatiya who witnessed the raid.

Al-Roub, who witnessed the attack, said Israeli forces stormed the town around 11:30 a.m., prompting a battle between Palestinians and forces that killed four.

He said the soldiers threw the four bodies from the rooftops in the evening.

Israel said its troops killed a total of seven militants on Thursday.

As of Friday, no militant group had claimed any of the dead as fighters.

At a funeral for three Palestinians killed in the raid – those whose bodies were not taken by the army – gunmen wearing caps bearing the insignia of Islamic Jihad’s Qabatiya brigade could be seen alongside crowds of mourners.

At least one body was draped in the flag of Islamic Jihad, a radical Islamist militant group operating in Gaza and the West Bank.

Hussein Zakarneh, 62, said one of the people pushed off the roof was his nephew, Shadi Zakarneh, who he said was wanted by Israel and had previously spent time in an Israeli prison.

“He wanted to become a martyr,” Zakarneh said of his nephew.

Other journalists at the scene also saw bodies being pushed from rooftops.

According to international law, soldiers should ensure that dead bodies, including those of enemy combatants, are treated decently.

When withdrawing from raids, the Israeli army usually leaves behind all Palestinians killed by gunfire. Occasionally, the army brings dead bodies to Israel.

“There is no need for the military to do this. It’s just a savage way of treating Palestinian bodies,” said Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, after watching the footage.

Jabarin said the treatment of the bodies was shocking but not surprising, and that he doubted Israel would properly investigate the incident.

The Israeli military rarely prosecutes soldiers in cases of reported harm to Palestinians, rights groups say.

“The most that will happen is the soldiers will be disciplined, but there will be no real investigation and no real prosecution,” Jabarin said.

An AP reporter who witnessed the raid saw a blindfolded and shirtless Palestinian kneeling in front of an Israeli army jeep and armed soldiers.

Smoke was billowing from several buildings that appeared damaged.

Later that night, the military said it rammed a car in Qabatiya, killing three militants.

The military released grainy aerial video that appears to show a group of four men getting out of a car, one firing two shots.

The car is then shot out of the air, causing a loud explosion.

The military said the car was carrying explosive devices and weapons.

It said it had seized weapons and arrested seven people suspected of militant activity.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah said Israeli gunfire during the raid sent 10 Palestinians to hospital, but all were in stable condition.

At least 716 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since the war broke out on October 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The northern West Bank, where Qabatiya is located, has seen some of the worst violence since the war broke out.

Israel says the raids are necessary to stamp out militancy, which has erupted since October 7.

During that time, Palestinian gunmen attacked Israelis at checkpoints and staged several attacks in Israel.

Earlier this month, Israel carried out its deadliest raid in the northern West Bank since the start of the war, killing at least 33 people.