Palestinian killed by Israeli army after alleged stabbing attack
A Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli soldier at the Gush Etzion junction and has been shot dead by him, army says.
A Palestinian has been shot dead after he tried to stab an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army has said.
A military spokesman said a man had emerged from a car and tried to stab a soldier, who shot him dead, and that the vehicle had left the scene.
“The assailant, armed with a knife, got out of the vehicle and attempted to stab an [Israeli] soldier. The soldier fired towards the assailant and neutralised him,” the army statement said.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the man killed as Faleh Musa Jaradat, who lived south of Hebron.
Video circulated on social media on Monday, and apparently taken by a motorist, showed a man lying on the road at the Gush Etzion junction in the West Bank, knife in hand, as three soldiers approached with rifles trained on him.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that “Israel has been criticised for its reflexive use of lethal force and extrajudicial killings when Palestinian alleged attackers no longer pose an immediate threat.
“The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that circumstances surrounding such killings over the past months remain disputed,” Wafa said in an article.
“Video footage for similar alleged attacks appears to disprove Israeli military claims, showing alleged Palestinian attackers did not even attempt to carry out any attacks. Some footage showed Israeli forces manipulating the crime scene following such killings.”
Violence has simmered in the occupied West Bank since US-backed peace talks with Israel stalled in 2014.
In a separate incident, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday an elderly Palestinian man died of injuries sustained nearly two weeks ago when he was hit by a vehicle in Israeli police service.
In the city of Hebron, the Health Ministry announced the death of 75-year-old Suleiman al-Hathalin, a veteran protester against Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank.
He had been standing in front of a tow truck that had been sent to his village of Um El-Kheir to confiscate unlicensed cars on January 5, a relative, Hazem al-Hathalin, said.
He said that Suleiman al-Hathalin was struck deliberately by the truck, which “ran him over with its front and back wheels” before driving away.
Israeli police spokespersons did not immediately comment.
In a statement quoted by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper on January 14, police said Palestinians had thrown stones at the truck and police forces that had accompanied it, making it impossible for them to stop and help a man who had climbed on the vehicle and fallen.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Facebook that he “died defending his village”.
Villagers said vehicles which police had sought to tow away were bought from Israelis at low cost after they failed to pass annual roadworthiness inspections in Israel.