Germany condemns Israeli soldiers using wounded Palestinian as human shield

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer has condemned Israeli soldiers using a wounded Palestinian as a human shield during a military operation in the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.

Fischer made his comment during a press conference in Berlin about video footage showing Israeli military vehicles in Jenin with a wounded Palestinian man strapped to the hood of the lead vehicle. Local resident Mujahed Azmi had been shot by soldiers and was clearly bloodied. The military vehicle passed between two Palestinian ambulances without stopping to allow paramedics to treat him.

The German spokesman, whose government offers Israel unquestioned support, described the footage as “hard to bear”. He noted that this behaviour is also considered a violation of Israeli army rules, adding that the German government expects “quick clarification, quick results and corresponding consequences for those responsible.”

In response to a question of whether he directly condemned this incident, Fisher said, “When I say that the scenes are difficult to bear, this is a condemnation.”

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Eyewitnesses told Anadolu news agency that the incident occurred in the Jabriyat neighbourhood in Jenin after a siege on a house. They assumed that the occupation troops used the wounded man as a “human shield” so that they could leave the area without being bombed or having bullets fired at them.

In conjunction with its devastating war on Gaza since 7 October, the Israeli army has expanded its incursions and operations across the occupied West Bank. At least 553 Palestinians have been killed in the Palestinian territory in that time, including 133 children, with a further 5,200 wounded, according to the Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

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