Israel Defense Forces said Friday it was investigating soldiers after footage emerged that appeared to show troops throwing bodies from the roof of a building in a village in the north of the occupied West Bank in the aftermath of a "counter-terrorism" operation jointly conducted with the Israeli Security Agency. Photo by Alaa Badarneh/EPA-EFE
Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The Israeli military said Friday it had launched a major investigation after a video shot in the north of the occupied West Bank appeared to show its troops tossing bodies from the roof of a building in contravention of international law.
Three Israeli troops on a rooftop are seen pushing a body over the building's edge but the feet get caught in electrical or telephone cables leaving it hanging before one of the soldiers leans over the side and frees it, plunging the body head-first to the ground, according to the footage graphic footage obtained by CNN.
Two soldiers lift another body by the hands at one end and the feet at the other and swing it back and forth before launching it over the edge. A soldier then approaches a third body and kicks it off the top of the building, falling out of sight.
CNN said it was not able to confirm if the victims were still alive when they were thrown -- but they do appear to be dead or unconscious.
"This is a serious incident that does not coincide with IDF values and the expectations from IDF soldiers," the military said in a statement.
"The incident is under review."
Filmed by residents of Qabatya, near Jenin, and witnessed by an Associated Press reporter, the incident occurred amid a military operation by Israel Defense Forces which the Palestinian administration said killed seven people.
The IDF earlier confirmed that a joint "counterterrorism" operation with the Israeli Security Agency had "eliminated four terrorists" in a firefight and in a later update said it had killed "the head of the terrorist organization in Qabatiya and six other terrorists."
Jenin Gov. Kamal Abu Al-Roub said the IDF took four bodies from Qabatya and that funerals for the other were due to held Friday.
There was no evidence any of the people killed were those in the video as their identities and cause of death were not yet known.
Al-Arabi correspondent Ameed Shehadeh said he saw troops first attempt to retrieve the bodies on the roof by unsuccessfully trying to demolish the building with a bulldozer before heading to the rooftop and throwing them down.
Rule 113 of the Geneva Conventions entitled "Treatment of the Dead," requires state parties to conflicts, both international and civil, treat the remains of deceased enemy combatants with respect and that failure to do so is a war crime.
"Each party to the conflict must take all possible measures to prevent the dead from being despoiled. Mutilation of dead bodies is prohibited."
Rule 114 requires parties to the conflict to return remains upon request to the other side or to their families, if asked to do so, along with their personal effects.
The latest incident came two weeks after the IDF mounted one of the largest "anti-terror" operations in 20 years targeting Jenin and the Palestinian refugee camp there.
At least 36 Palestinians were killed, according to local health officials, and several were seriously injured in whag they said was a military assault and while armed groups claimed most of the dead, children and elderly people were among those killed.
