The apparent use of a human shield has sparked widespread outrage

Jenin April 23, 2024 (QJ) -Israeli forces stationed in the occupied West Bank used a wounded Palestinian man as a human shield, attaching him to the hood of a military vehicle during an operation in Jenin.

A video posted online on Saturday showed Mujahid Azmi, a Palestinian resident of Jenin, tied to a military jeep, being driven past two ambulances. Azmi’s family told Reuters that Israeli forces conducted a raid in Jenin, during which Azmi was injured. When the family requested an ambulance, the soldiers took Azmi, tied him to the hood of their jeep, and drove away with him.

The Israeli military released a statement saying their forces had exchanged gunfire and detained a suspect who was injured. The soldiers violated military protocol by tying the detainee to the vehicle. “The suspect was apprehended while tied to the top of a vehicle,” the statement said.

The Israeli soldiers later released Azmi, allowing medical personnel to take him to a hospital where he was brought to the surgery room, according to health workers.

This incident coincides with increasing violence in the occupied West Bank, which has been escalating even before the recent conflict between Israel and Gaza.

The apparent use of a human shield has sparked widespread outrage. Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, described it as “an act of human shielding.”