The IDF said Thursday that an internal investigation found soldiers defending themselves at an incident last week in the West Bank in which a Palestinian man was killed and left with paralysis.
The man was killed in the neck as Israeli soldiers battled Palestinians in a small town on the West Bank on Saturday. The military said “violent unrest” began as soldiers evacuated an illegally constructed building.
IDF soldiers in the West Bank
(Photo: IDF Speaker Unit)
The Palestinian health ministry said the gunman left Haron Abu Aram, 24, quadrilateral.
A statement from the army spokesman’s unit said the initial investigation found the soldiers were “threatening fatal threats while carrying out enforcement actions in the At-Tuwani city area.”
They said the superintendent fired in the air, and as the bullets were fired, “two Palestinians attacked the commander – one gripping him sharply and the other capturing the As a result, another stray was struck by a stray strike in Palestine. “
The military said a separate military police investigation was also underway.
IDF soldiers during a riot on the West Bank north of Jerusalem
(Photo: Gil Yochanan)
Palestinians and human rights groups have criticized the IDF for condemning the “violence” waged by its troops on the West Bank and for not holding soldiers accountable.
Witnesses said the incident began when Israeli soldiers tried to stop the villagers from building a home, and seized a power generator with Abu Aram. Critics say Israel is preventing Palestinians from building houses in controlled areas on the West Bank without obtaining a difficult building permit.
Palestinians are demanding the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with a capital in East Jerusalem, for a future state. They say the settlements of the West Bank of Israel – which most countries consider illegal under international law – are a barrier to a peaceful solution to the conflict and the independent state of Palestine.