A/HRC/31/40 in violence. OHCHR documented the killing of 65 Palestinians and 9 Israelis in the West Bank.3 Palestinian casualties in October were the highest in a single month since the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs commenced recording casualties in 2005. The Deputy Secretary-General highlighted that this wave of violence would not have erupted “if the Palestinians did not still live under a stifling and humiliating occupation that has lasted almost half a century”.4 II. Legal framework 9. International human rights law and international humanitarian law apply in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel therefore remains bound by its obligations as the occupying Power, even though the State of Palestine has undertaken obligations by ratifying several international treaties (see A/HRC/28/80, para. 66). Despite the existence of a government of national consensus in the State of Palestine, authorities or groups exercise government-like functions and control over territory in Gaza and are therefore also bound by relevant human rights law in that territory (see A/HRC/8/17, para. 9). III. Human rights violations by all duty bearers A. Israeli authorities 1. Excessive use of force and unlawful killings, including possible extrajudicial executions 10. The reporting period saw a sharp increase in apparent incidents of excessive use of force, both in the context of clashes and in response to attacks or alleged attacks by Palestinians against Israelis. Some of these responses strongly suggest unlawful killings, including possible extrajudicial executions. As the High Commissioner has said, “in the context of suspected attacks, several Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces, sometimes allegedly acting with disproportionate force, to the extent that extrajudicial killings are strongly suspected”.5 11. In one case monitored by OHCHR, 18-year-old Hadeel al-Hashlamoun was shot dead by Israeli soldiers on 22 September 2015 at a pedestrian checkpoint in Hebron’s old city, close to a number of settlements. According to two witnesses, one of whom photographed the entire incident, 6 Ms. Al-Hashlamoun was trying to walk away from the checkpoint after a standoff with soldiers when one of them shot her left leg. She fell to the ground, dropping her bag and, according to one witness, a knife. Both witnesses say that after 10 or 15 seconds, the same soldier shot her in her right leg, then five to six times in the abdomen and chest. He then moved closer, until he was only a metre away, and reportedly fired a last bullet into the victim’s chest, even though the other soldiers were shouting at him to stop, saying she was dead. 3 4 5 6 An Israeli soldier was also killed in an attack in Beer Sheva, Israel. The Israeli Bedouin attacker and an Eritrean bystander were killed by security guards. Briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, 22 October 2015. Statement by the High Commissioner at a special meeting of the Human Rights Council, 28 October 2015. See http://sanaud-voltaremos.blogspot.com.br/p/brazil-26th-september-2015.html?m=1. 3