US accuses Israel of using excessive force against Palestinians

Annual US report on human rights says nearly half of Palestinians killed by Israel were not carrying out attacks, and many times did not pose a threat to life

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration accused Israel of using excessive force against Palestinians during a wave of deadly violence, in an annual report that pointed to a global decline in human rights.

The annual report by the State Department into human rights abuses around the world accused Israeli forces of “excessive use of force” in the Palestinian territories, and “arbitrary arrest and associated torture and abuse, often with impunity,” by the IDF, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.


According to numbers cited in the report, 149 Palestinians were killed in 2015 by Israeli security forces, but only 77 were in the course of attacking Israelis.

“There were numerous reports of the ISF (Israel security forces) killing Palestinians during riots, demonstrations, at checkpoints, and during routine operations; in some cases they did not pose a threat to life,” the report read.

The numbers clash with Israeli accounts that some two-thirds of Palestinians killed during a wave of violence beginning in October were in the midst of attempting or carrying out attacks and the rest died in clashes with security forces.
The report comes months after Secretary of State John Kerry was asked by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and nine other US lawmakers to probe instances of what they said were possible extrajudicial killings by Israeli forces.

Leahy and his fellow signatories asked Kerry in February to look into claims of “gross violations of human rights” by Israel and Egypt, citing examples of alleged extrajudicial killings by both countries and saying it could affect aid to the countries.

On Israel, the letter asked Kerry to investigate “what may be extrajudicial killings,” citing claims by Amnesty International and other human rights groups relating to the deaths of Fadi Aloun, Sa’ad al-Atrash, Hadeel Hashlamoun and Mutaw Awisat.

According to Israel, all four were killed while in the midst of attempting to attack Israelis in Jerusalem and Hebron, though those claims are disputed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded angrily to the letter when its existence was reported in March, defending the IDF’s actions.

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Nice to see America really opening it's eyes to both sides of the equation.  Now they need to stop funding it.