grenades on the ground, not throw them at people. Nevertheless, B’Tselem hasdocumented cases in which soldiers and Border Police threw stun grenadesdirectly at demonstrators or into a crowd, causing injury from the impact <strong>of</strong> thegrenade, burns and scorched clothing. 62The stun grenades’ explosion mechanism generates a flash <strong>of</strong> fire that canset flammable substances alight, such as thorns and dry weeds. B’Tselem hasdocumented instances <strong>of</strong> fires that were started by exploding stun grenades.That said, stun grenades are less likely to start a fire than 40mm aluminumtear-gas canisters.Protesters react to a stun grenade, 'Abud, 2005. Photo by Yotam Ronen/Activestills62 See B’Tselem <strong>report</strong>, “Show <strong>of</strong> Force: Israeli Military Conduct in Weekly Demonstrations in a-Nabi Saleh,”September 2011, http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/201109_show_<strong>of</strong>_force28
Live Ammunition“Ordinary” BulletsLive ammunition is the most lethal means used by security forces at West Bankdemonstrations. Soldiers operating in the West Bank are usually equipped withone <strong>of</strong> two kinds <strong>of</strong> personal weapons: A “Tavor” or one <strong>of</strong> several models <strong>of</strong> theM4 assault rifle (“shortened M16”). These rifles fire 5.56mm-caliber bullets.According to both the open-fire regulations and statements by military <strong>of</strong>ficials,use <strong>of</strong> live ammunition in the course <strong>of</strong> law enforcement activities (such as thedispersal <strong>of</strong> demonstrations) in the West Bank is prohibited, with the exception<strong>of</strong> firing in the air under certain circumstances. The Israeli military’s standingorders explicitly state that live ammunition may not be fired at stone-throwers.A person throwing stones may be detained under standard arrest procedureonly if the assailant poses an immediate threat to the physical wellbeing <strong>of</strong>the soldier or <strong>of</strong> another person. Only under circumstances <strong>of</strong> real mortaldanger may live ammunition be fired at the body <strong>of</strong> the assailant, in order toeliminate the danger. 63 The 2006 Soldier’s Open-Fire Regulation Card for Judeaand Samaria, intended to help memorize the open-fire regulations, states thatin case <strong>of</strong> violent rioting by the Separation Barrier, when there appears to bea real threat <strong>of</strong> damage to, or breaching <strong>of</strong>, the barrier, and when less severemethods have proven ineffective, the commander <strong>of</strong> the force may, as a lastresort, authorize the firing <strong>of</strong> single shots <strong>of</strong> live ammunition at the legs <strong>of</strong>those people identified as central agitators. 64Even so, security forces sometimes fire live ammunition during demonstrations,particularly at Palestinians who are throwing stones at them. Over the past63 Instruction 8, Open Fire Regulations for Soldiers in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, January 2012, § 8[Hebrew].64 General Staff \ Operations Directorate, Central Command, “Open- Fire Regulations Card for Judea andSamaria,” July 2006, XII.3.b. The card has different open-fire regulations for demonstrations in which there areIsraelis demonstrators, and states that “in case <strong>of</strong> violent disturbance <strong>of</strong> the peace with the participation <strong>of</strong>Israelis [emphasis in original], no use shall be made <strong>of</strong> live ammunition (including firing in the air) or rubberammunition, for the dispersal <strong>of</strong> the violent disturbance <strong>of</strong> the peace, with the exception <strong>of</strong> a case <strong>of</strong> realand immediate danger to life” (§ 6). In practice, these directions are apparently not implemented.29