Muhammad Rimawi Becomes ‘Third Palestinian Tortured to Death’ by Israel this Year

Muhammad Rimawi, a 24-year-old Palestinian, died in Israeli custody Tuesday morning after Israeli forces beat him and kidnapped him from his home in the Beit Rima village in the occupied West Bank.  

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According to Muhammad’s brother Bashir, Israeli forces raided their home at 4 a.m. local time to detain Muhammad. Bashir told local news Ma’an that Israel’s occupation forces brutally assaulted his brother, stripping him of his clothes and beating and kicking him until he fell unconscious before taking him to an unknown location.

Hours later the family received a phone call to inform them their son “had died.” They received no further information on the cause of death or on the return of the body for proper burial.

The Rimawi family claims Israel is responsible for Muhammad’s death, which they say resulted from the assault he was subjected to during detention. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) and Palestinian-based human rights groups Addameer also argue the use of excessive force by Israeli forces caused Muhammad’s death.

Israeli officials have rejected the accounts provided by Muhammad’s family, saying he “lost consciousness” for unknown reasons. His family asserts he was healthy.

The PPS lamented that Muhammed’s “death was added to a long list of crimes and unjust executions carried out against Palestinian detainees and prisoners.” Addameer explained Muhammad did not represent a threat to Israeli forces, which makes the use of excessive force against him a violation of international humanitarian law, which bans the use of force against civilians who do not pose a direct threat to life.

A spokesperson for Israel’s army confirmed Muhammad presented no threat. “According to an initial investigation, he was arrested without resisting or violence,” the official said.

Israel has been warned against using excessive force targetting unarmed civilians, most recently in the context of the Great March of Return in the besieged Gaza Strip to which Israeli forces have responded with live ammunition injuring thousands and killing at least 179 Palestinians since March. On Tuesday two Palestinians were found dead near the site of an Israeli missile strike, near the Israel-Gaza fence, the location for the weekly protests.

According to PPS, since 1967, Israel has killed 72 Palestinians through torture while on detention. This year, Muhammad became the third Palestinian to be tortured to death by Israel. The PPS told Ma’an news the first was Yassin al-Saradih who was assaulted to death by Israeli forces following his detention in February, and the second was prisoner Aziz Eweisat from Jerusalem, who was killed after being assaulted inside an Israeli jail in May.

Israeli occupation forces arrested 11 Palestinians between Monday night and Tuesday morning over suspected “involvement in terrorist activities, popular terrorism and participation in violent riots against civilians and security forces,” the Israeli army said.

Israeli news media The Times of Israel explained: “popular terrorism is a catch-all term used by the army to denote rock throwing and other low-level violence.”