citizens. A significant amount of these deaths were deemed extrajudicial killings because the Israeli soldiers made use of excessive force when the person killed posed no threat to life, as in the case of Fadi Alloun or Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, where live ammunition was neither proportional nor necessary.48 The large number of extrajudicial killings and the circumstances in which these killings took place illustrate the existence of a wider shootto-kill policy. The brutality and arbitrariness of many killings and the large amount of shootings taking place at checkpoints or in the Old Cities of Hebron and Jerusalem, resulted in thousands of Palestinians fearing leaving their homes or moving around the West Bank. Through this shoot-to-kill policy, Israel sought the confinement and containment of the Palestinian people by further limiting their already scarce freedom of movement, thus strengthening its control mechanisms. “During the first months of the last uprising I had to leave Bethlehem multiple times and I would be so scared and thinking for two full days how I was going to cross a specific checkpoint, especially if I had to cross the one between Hebron and Bethlehem, in the Etzion colonial bloc [south of Bethlehem]. The situation was so intense there, and you feel the intensity. For example, if they were only checking the cars it wouldn’t be that hard, but we heard and saw in the news that every single day someone was being killed and they said that it was because of attempted attacks against soldiers. But in fact, those people were like us, coming and going, crossing checkpoints to run errands or visit people. And they were accused of carrying weapons. So as I said, if there is no accountability, it means those soldiers can do whatever they want. During that period when you crossed a checkpoint you would find 20, or a large number of soldiers pointing their loaded guns at you. What if any of them sneezed? The bullet would be in my head. Just like that. This is why I used to be so tense in the car, I wouldn’t know where to put my hands, or what to do, how fast to drive… even if I coughed in the car it could provoke them and they might shoot you because you did something unexpected. Or they might take you, as it happened many times, behind their checkpoint and do whatever they want with you. And they would accuse you of wanting to kill them. So yes, it was very intense. We avoided crossing checkpoints as much as possible. Even with taxi drivers. Once I did not want to take my car and go by myself to the checkpoint so I asked a taxi driver to take me to Hebron, because at the time in our community everyone was speaking and everyone knew that if you went by yourself, as a male, in a normal car, especially in the Etzion area, you would be at much higher risk than if you are with two or three other people. So at that time no one 48 Fadi Alloun was killed by Israeli police forces on 4 October 2015 while he was not holding any weapons or posing any threat. Video evidence available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj8gXqGh2V0; Abdel Fattah al-Sharif was shot dead by an Israeli soldier on 24 March 2016 as he was badly injured laying on the ground, with no weapon, and surrounded by soldiers. Video evidence available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x67sNvWAR_w 20