Residents accuse Israel of executions during attack on West Bank refugee camp

Nur Shams, West Bank: When Israeli soldiers came to Mohamad Abu Sweilem’s door and summoned his son during a raid on this Palestinian refugee camp, he begged them to take him away.

He couldn’t understand why the Israelis wanted Rajai, a 39-year-old father of four who worked in the family hardware store and was not a militant, he said. The soldiers, who had been in the field for days, didn’t seem to know who his son was, or care much: They never asked for identification, his family said. Still, they took him away.

Less than a minute later, Mohamed heard gunshots and his son’s voice screaming in pain, he said. The family found Rajai’s body hours later, after the soldiers had left. They suspect soldiers used him as a human shield to confront militants in a ground-floor apartment. and then shot him, a claim the Israeli military denies.

Residents of Nur Shams accused the Israeli army of using brutal tactics during its attack on militants. last month. For more than 50 hours, starting April 18, people were trapped in their homes while electricity, water and internet were cut off in the area. When they emerged, they found destroyed roads, destroyed houses and bodies in the alleys.