Netanyahu to toughen rules on Palestinian stone-throwers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly initiated a move to harden the existing rules on dealing with the Palestinians who throw stones on Israeli forces.
Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday that he and other members of the Israeli cabinet are considering giving the troops a freer hand to shoot at Palestinian stone-throwers, including minors.
The suggestion for intensified rules came amid an increasing wave of stone-throwing in the occupied al-Quds and West Bank. A video last week, which went viral on the Internet, showed an Israeli trooper being bitten by women and children after he brutally attacked and placed an injured young boy under headlock for throwing stones.
Israeli media then blamed the current rules for the inability of the Israeli soldier to fight back and use his rifle against the women and children. On paper, Israeli forces are allowed to fire with live bullets in "life-threatening" situations. However, the new measures could enable them to also fire at Palestinians who flee after throwing rocks.
Israeli forces frequently open fire on Palestinians and injure or kill them for a variety of excuses. In early July, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager who, according to Israeli military sources, had only hurled stones at them. However, witnesses and local residents said the shooting had been completely without provocation.
Sources in Netanyahu’s office said after the cabinet meeting Wednesday that the policy of the Tel Aviv regime, as of now, would be to exercise “zero tolerance toward stone throwing.”
The hardened measures could draw international criticism as the Tel Aviv regime is still facing huge pressure over increasing violence by its settlers against the Palestinians. One such case led to the killing of an 18-month-old baby and his father in late July when Israeli settlers firebombed the house of the Dawabsha family near Ramallah when they were asleep.
Palestinian officials have also reacted to the potential toughening of the current rules on stone-hurlers. Wasel Abu Youssef of the Palestine Liberation Organization says the new measures would mean “more escalation, killings and crimes” against Palestinian people.
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