White House says footage of Israeli troops throwing bodies off roof 'deeply disturbing'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Video recordings appearing to show Israeli forces throwing Palestinian bodies off a roof in the occupied West Bank are "deeply disturbing," the White House said Friday.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that if the video is corroborated "it clearly would depict abhorrent and egregious behavior by professional soldiers."

"We reached out immediately to our Israeli counterparts about it, and we pressed them for more details. They have assured us that they're going to investigate this and that there will be proper accountability if it's warranted," Kirby said in response to a question from Anadolu.

"We're going to be very eager to see what the IDF investigation finds, and as always, we expect that investigation be done thoroughly and transparently," he added.

Video of the incident circulated widely on social media, appearing to show Israeli troops tossing the bodies off a roof of a multi-story house in the city of Qabatiya, which lies just south of Jenin. Eyewitnesses said the Palestinians had been engaged in a gunfight with the troops when they were killed.

The witnesses told Anadolu that a military bulldozer subsequently lifted the bodies using its metal claw attachment.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children. The Hamas-led cross-border attack on Israel that precipitated the conflict killed about 1,189 people and resulted in 250 others being taken back to Gaza as hostages.

At least 710 Palestinians have since been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, and nearly 5,700 others have been injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The escalation follows a landmark opinion by the International Court of Justice in July that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.​​​