IDF Rebuked for Preventing Molotov Cocktail Attack

Palestinian firebombing attacks have risen in the past year.

By Hugh Fitzgerald, FrontPageMag

In Judea and Samaria, there has been an explosion of attacks by Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails at vehicles driven by Israeli civilians.

There were 75 Molotov cocktail attacks on Israeli civilians in 2020 and 1,022 in 2021. It’s a constant danger for Israelis driving in Judea and Samaria who could, were an attack successful, be burned alive.

A report on the death of a Palestinian boy who was hurling a Molotov cocktail, and the predictable UN expression of disapproval of Israel, is here: “UN upset by IDF killing of Palestinian teenage Molotov cocktail thrower,” by Tovah Lazaroff and Khaled Abu Toameh, Jerusalem Post, February 23, 2022:

“A top United Nations official called for Israeli restraint after the IDF said it fatally shot a 14-year-old Palestinian while he was in the midst of throwing Molotov cocktails at civilian vehicles in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank.”

Much will be made of the fact that the Palestinian attacker was 14 years old. But so what? At fourteen, he might well have appeared, from a distance, to be years older. And the Molotov cocktail he was in the midst of throwing was just as deadly, whether thrown by a 14-year-old or an 18-year-old.

What should the Israelis have done? Because they had not ascertained his age, should they have held their fire, and let him throw his Molotov cocktail at a passing Israeli car?

Encouraging Children to Attack Israelis

“Gravely concerned by yesterday’s killing of 14-yr old boy by ISF [Israeli Security Forces] in Bethlehem,” UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Conflict Tor Wennesland tweeted on Wednesday [Feb.23].

“Children must not [be] the target of violence or put in harm’s way. ISF must exercise [maximum] restraint [and] may use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable to protect life,” he stated.

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Conflict Tor Wennesland has things wrong. The Israelis were not “targeting” children; they were responding to a sudden threat coming from a figure in the distance who was in the midst of throwing a Molotov cocktail to burn Israelis alive.

Only after they had shot him, and were attempting to save his life, did they have any idea of his age. Wasn’t that lethal force “unavoidable” in order “to protect human life”? How many would have been burned alive had that Molotov cocktail hit its intended target?

It is the Palestinians, both in Judea and Samaria and Gaza, who put “children in harm’s way” by encouraging them to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers. They know the propaganda value of having those “children” wounded or killed by Israeli security forces.

Hamas, in particular, routinely places children in harm’s way by, for example, putting them in the front of those rioters who took part in the Great March of Return, trying to breach Israel’s security fence.

Dishonest Habits

The IDF said that its forces on Tuesday night were near the village of al-Khader and identified three suspects in an area “where Molotov cocktails had been thrown recently at Israeli vehicles, endangering passengers on the road.”

Soldiers “fired at one of the suspects while he threw a Molotov cocktail” and hit the suspect, the IDF said.

It added that its soldiers provided the suspect “with primary medical care on the spot” but were not able to save his life.

According to the Palestine News Agency Wafa, the teen was identified as Mohammad Shehadeh.

Palestinian activist Ahmad Salah said that Shehadeh was shot near an army security barrier. “The soldiers didn’t give him any emergency aid. They left him bleeding on the ground. Then they brought an ambulance to take him,” Salah said.

The Israelis say they provided “primary medical care on the spot.” I believe them, and not “Palestinian activist Ahmad Salah.” The Israelis have a habit of telling the truth, the Palestinians have a habit of lying.

According to the IDF, there were 4,002 stoning incidents in 2020 and 5,532 in 2021. Similarly, IDF data shows that there were 75 Molotov cocktail attacks in 2020 and 1,022 in 2021.…

Molotov cocktail attacks on Israelis in Judea and Samaria have increased fifteen-fold in just one year. No wonder the Israelis are determined to stamp them out.

The PA propaganda machine is already in full swing. The resolutions at the UN, denouncing Israel for its latest “atrocity,” cannot be far behind. But in Judea and Samaria, Palestinians of all ages will now think twice before going out to hurl their Molotov cocktails.