Israeli army bulldozer filmed dragging human body in Gaza; Adalah to military: This is a war crime; open immediate criminal investigation

Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel sent an urgent letter today, 23 February 2020, to Israeli Chief Military Advocate General Sharon Afek, demanding he immediately open a criminal investigation into the incident that occurred this morning near Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip in which an Israeli military armored bulldozer was filmed dragging a human body along the ground and repeatedly lifting it up in the air and dropping it down in the mud.

A video of the incident was shared on Twitter by the Shehab news agency.

An Israeli military armored bulldozer (left) dragging a body near the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis on Sunday, 23 February 2020. (Video screengrab courtesy of Shehab Agency)

In the letter, Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher detailed a series of international laws – including the Rome Statute, the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, and the Hague Regulations – which classify the Israeli military actions depicted in the video as war crimes and blatant violations of international criminal law, and international human rights and humanitarian law.

The Israeli Supreme Court has likewise recognized in past rulings that harm to the dignity of the deceased is a violation of Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.

Adalah demands the Israeli military immediately open a criminal investigation into this morning’s actions in the southern Gaza Strip.

CLICK HERE to read Adalah’s letter [Hebrew]