Description

Photo:
Mohammad Shawkat Salima, 25. Published by IMEMC News

Scene. Source: Silwanic Published by IMEMC News

Forces at the scene of suspected stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City, on Saturday. Credit: Emil Salman Published by Haaretz

Mohammed Shawkat Salameh. Published by Haaretz
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by IMEMC News
Dec 3, 2021

Israeli soldiers killed, Saturday, a young Palestinian man after he allegedly stabbed an Israeli settler, inflicting moderate wounds, in occupied Jerusalem in the West Bank.

Media sources said the Palestinian, Mohammad Shawkat Salima, 25, was shot by at least two soldiers at the al-Misrara junction in Bab al-Amoud, in Jerusalem.

They added that the soldiers also attacked many Palestinians who gathered in the area and fired gas bombs at them.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center In Silwan (Silwanic) said the soldiers injured at least three Palestinians in Bab al-‘Amoud, in addition to abducting two others.

It added that one of the wounded was shot with a concussion grenade, and one was beaten by the soldiers, in addition to dozens who suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.

The slain young Palestinian man was from Salfit, in the central West Bank. His death led to protests in Jerusalem, Salfit, and other parts of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli sources have confirmed that the injured Israeli was a Haredi man who suffered moderate wounds.

The Israeli police issued a statement and released a surveillance video showing the Palestinian man stabbing the Israeli, in addition to attempting to stab the police before he was shot.

The Israeli army and the police closed the entire area, and prevented the Palestinians from entering it, in addition to invading many surrounding areas, including in the Old City and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The soldiers also assaulted a Palestinian child and took him to a surveillance room in Bab al-Amoud area.
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PCHR: In Extrajudicial Execution, Israeli Troops Kill Civilian after Injuring Him

by Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

Crime Amounting to Extra-judicial Execution, IOF Kill Palestinian after Wounding Him and Neutralizing Any Threats in Occupied East Jerusalem

Ref: 138/2021

Date: 05 December 2021

Time: 10:00 GMT

On Saturday, 4 December 2021, in a crime amounting to extrajudicial execution, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) shot and killed a Palestinian male, who stabbed an Israeli settler in occupied East Jerusalem; even though IOF had shot and wounded him, neutralizing any threats he proposed. Data collected by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and footage that documented the incident showed that two Israeli soldiers opened fired continuously at a Palestinian male, despite that he was wounded and had fallen to the ground; the soldiers left him to bleed out. The crime was supported by the Israeli government, which confirms that Israel provides impunity for murder crimes against Palestinians.

According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 16:30 on Saturday, 04 December 2021, a Palestinian civilian coming from al-Mosrarah intersection area arrived at a street adjacent to Bab al-‘Amoud area in central occupied East Jerusalem. When he approached an Israeli settler, he took a knife out and stabbed the settler several times, seriously wounding him. At that time, two Israeli border guard officers saw the incident; they rushed to the scene and opened fire at the Palestinian who was only 2 meters away from them. The wounded attempted to assault the soldiers but he sustained several live bullets wounds and fell to the ground while bleeding.

As he fell to the ground wounded, and ceased to be a threat to anyone, the two border guard officers continued to fire several bullets at him from zero distance, leaving him bleeding on the ground for 40 minutes. Afterwards, backup forces arrived at the scene and did not provide first aid to the wounded. Also, they prevented the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) crews from reaching him to provide any help.

Following the incident, IOF completely closed Bab al-‘Amoud and al-Mosrarah areas and closed all al-Aqsa Mosque’s gates as well as the gates of occupied East Jerusalem’s wall. Also, they detained dozens of Palestinians who were in Bab al-‘Amoud and in Bab al-Sahera areas, in the center of occupied East Jerusalem, prevented them from entering or exiting the city for half an hour, physically assaulted some of them, and fired teargas canisters and sound bombs at them. Moreover, IOF arrested a woman, whose identity remains unknown, from the scene and took her to Moscovia Detention Centre for interrogation.

Later on, IOF took the dead corpse to an unknown destination, and the victim’s identity was confirmed as Mohammed Showkat Mohammed Salima (25), from Salfit in northern West Bank.

The murder of Salima was supported by the Israeli government, as the Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, tweeted: “The soldiers acted as quickly and firmly as expected … I ask to give them full backing.”

As for the Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, he also tweeted: “I completely back our security officers and border guard officers who responded quickly and firmly this evening.”[1]

This crime brings back to memory many cold-blooded murders against Palestinians by IOF, whether by targeting and killing the wounded, killing on grounds of suspicion, or killing without presence of any threat or danger to soldiers’ lives.

As these crimes continue with the full support of the Israeli government, it suggests that a high-level political office authorized these murder crimes that amount to extrajudicial execution. It is also another proof that the absence of accountability and the complicit silence of the international community encourages the occupation to commit more crimes.

PCHR demands the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to ensure Israel abidance, as a Member State, to the application of the Conventions in the occupied Palestinian territory.

PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfill their obligations to ensure respect to the Conventions and to take practical steps towards holing Israeli war criminals accountable by ending the impunity enjoyed by the occupation for many decades.
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Palestinian Shot Dead After Stabbing Israeli in Jerusalem

Footage from the scene shows forces firing at the Palestinian stabber at least twice while he was already lying on the ground. Prime Minister Bennett said he 'fully backs' the officers

by Nir Hasson, Josh Breiner, and Jack Khoury for Haaretz
Dec. 5, 2021

A Palestinian man was shot dead on Saturday by Israeli forces in Jerusalem, after a suspected stabbing attack in the Old City that left an Israeli man wounded.

Emergency services said the Israeli victim, an ultra-Orthodox man in his 20s, was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the city in moderate condition. The hospital said his situation is stable.

Footage from the scene, near Damascus Gate, shows forces shooting at the Palestinian suspect at least twice after he was already lying on the ground, seconds after the stabbing. Israel has launched a probe into the fatal shooting and the officers involved were questioned.

A video released by Israeli police shows the assailant crossing a street and then turning around and several times stabbing or attempting to stab the Jewish man, who had been walking a few steps behind him. The assailant then runs toward an Israeli Border Policeman and is shot several times by him and another officer.

Police sources said the assailant – identified as 23-year-old Mohammed Shawkat Salameh from Salfit, in the central West Bank – tried stabbing a Border Police officer, after stabbing the first man, a civilian.

A medic said the victim was fully conscious when taken to hospital, and that he was stabbed in his upper body.

Brief clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces at the scene, with police using stun grenades and other riot control measures.

Bennett defends shooting

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he "fully backs" the officers who shot the Palestinian assailant, saying in a statement they "operated as expected of Israeli officers."

"We cannot let our capital city become a hub of terrorism," he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing, saying in a statement: "This is a continuation of the Israeli escalation against the Palestinian people." He called the shooting "a war crime."

The Israeli Justice Ministry's department for the investigation of police officers launched an investigation into the fatal shooting by Israeli forces.

An attorney for one of the officers said they "prevented with their bodies the death of civilians in an attack by a terrorist who had one aim – to kill." An attorney representing another officer said she "acted impeccably, as was expected of her."

According to the officer who shot Salameh, the man "tried to attack me with the knife and also tried stabbing the policewoman who was with me. I moved away and fired as we were trained. I fired three to four times to neutralize the terrorist."

Public Defense Minister Omer Bar-Lev, who oversees the police, tweeted: "When there's a doubt, there's no doubt." He said the officers had "a second or two" after the first shot to "determine whether the terrorist who was hit is going to set off an explosive belt."

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also said he "fully backs our fighters. We will not let terrorists run wild in Jerusalem or in any other part of the country." Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the officers did the "obvious" thing, stressing they have his backing.

Senior police officials said they fully back the forces at the scene for "responding quickly and ending the attack." The police's Jerusalem District chief, Doron Turgeman, also defended the officers' "swift" response that he claimed prevented further loss of life.

Police chief Kobi Shabtai called the families of the officers involved in the shooting, and told then police would provide legal assistance.

Israel's Border Police chief said he fully backed the officers whose response "resulted in the neutralization of the terrorist and prevented him from further harming fighters and civilians at the scene."

'Summary execution'

Lawmaker Ofer Cassif of the Joint List, a predominantly Arab party, called the shooting a "summary execution." Fellow Joint List member Aida Touma-Sliman tweeted: "Executing a man who no longer constitutes a threat is a horrible crime. This is the reality created by the occupation."

Esawi Freige, a minister from left-wing Meretz party, said on Twitter that shooting in such situations should be done only "to save lives, and not to take the lives of assailants who no longer pose danger." He added the footage points to "an act that shows indifference to human lives."

Another cabinet member, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked from Bennett's right-wing Yamina party, tweeted in support of the Border Police officers. "They stand on the front line, and we stand behind them," she said.

Other right-wing Knesset members also defended the Border Police officers that shot Salameh. "It should be clear to everyone that a terrorist who goes out to murder a Jew will be killed on the spot," tweeted Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right lawmaker from the Religious Zionism party.

Former public security minister, Likud's Amir Ohana, wrote on Twitter that "the Border Policeman who killed the terrorist should be invited to the office of the public security minister to receive a certificate of appreciation, as I have done many times during my tenure."

Hamas, the militant Islamic group ruling the Gaza Strip, praised the attack as a “new heroism,” but stopped short of claiming responsibility for it.

Damascus Gate was the epicenter of protests and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police last spring, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The unrest spread to other parts of the city, including a nearby holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims, eventually helping to ignite the 11-day Gaza war.

Last week, Eliyahu Kay, a 25-year-old Jewish immigrant from South Africa was killed by a gunman who opened fire with an automatic weapon in Jerusalem's Old City. The shooter, later said to be tied to Hamas, was shot dead by security forces.

This was the first fatal attack targeting Israelis in the Old City since early 2018.

Four people were wounded in the shooting that killed Eliyahu, with one hospitalized in serious condition.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.