Rather than apologizing for ending two innocent lives, the Israeli military claimed that it had only used rubber-coated steal bullets against the people of Iraq Burin, and not live fire. The x-ray above is of Useid Qadus’ skull, showing the live bullet lodged in his head.

As demonstrations broke out across the West Bank in the last ten days or so in response to continuous Israeli colonization and more restrictions on Palestinian movement, dozens have been arrested (including pre-teen children), kidnapped by undercover thugs, or wounded by live ammunition. Yesterday, the first two fatalities occurred when Zionist troops shot dead Mohammad Qadus, 20, and Usaid Qadus, 16, both from the village of Iraq Burin near Nablus.

 The murders occurred as Israeli soldiers invaded the village, whose residents were resisting the weekly attacks by settlers from the illegal colonies surrounding Iraq Burin. The occupation army didn’t bother pretending it hadn’t killed the two young men, but contended the type of ammunition used. Rather than apologizing for ending two innocent lives (which in the context of occupation and dispossession wouldn’t mean much anyway), the Israeli military claimed that it had only used rubber-coated steal bullets against the people of Iraq Burn, and not live fire. The x-ray above is of Useid Qadus’ skull, showing the live bullet lodged in his head. As Israeli human rights activist Jonathan Pollack told Maan News:

“The IDF uses two types of rubber bullets; one is shaped like a ball and the other is cylindrical .The object lodged in Useid’s skull is shaped like a prism, pointed at the end. It’s a bullet.”

The wounds on Mohammad’s body included an entry wound and exit wound-further disputing the argument that the Israeli army was only using crowd control measures and not shooting to kill.

“Rubber-coated steel bullets will not enter and exit the body in that way. It’s very clear these injuries would not have been caused by any kind of crowd-control measure,” said B’Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli.

Of course, what type of ammunition occupation forces use to kill natives protesting the theft of their land and subjugation of their rights is not important, and making such a distinction is insulting. But what gets me is the audacity of Zionism, where the murder of innocents is so inconsequential only the method of murder is discussed. It’s a self-propagating cycle of impunity for the killers, and they are at it again; two more unarmed Palestinians-Mohammad and Salah Qawaqre, both 19 years old, were shot dead today in Owarta, another village near Nablus.

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