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Thousands hold demonstration in Kafr Kanna, less than one day after policemen fatally shot a man from the village. (Activestills)
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Clashes broke out in the village of Kafr Kana in the Galilee region of northern Israel after police shot and killed a Palestinian from the village overnight, Israeli media reported Saturday.

Dozens of Palestinian youths gathered at the entrance to the village, set tires on fire, and through with Israeli police, who attempted to forcefully disperse them, the Israeli news site Ynet said.

Residents of the village announced a strike following the overnight killing of the Palestinian, identified as 22-year-old Khair al-Din Rouf Hamdan.

According to locals in Kafr Kana, Hamdan was shot dead after police attempted to arrest his cousin.

Israeli police claimed in a statement that the Hamdan had been wielding a knife at the time of the incident and had attempted to stab an officer before being shot dead.

Video emerged following the killing that appears to show Hamdan hitting a police car with a small object.

The video footage subsequently shows a police officer exiting the car and shooting Hamdan at close range, before dragging him into the car.

Although the majority of Palestinians were expelled from their homes inside Israel during the 1948 conflict that led to the creation of the State of Israel, some Palestinians managed to remain in their villages and their descendants today make up around 20 percent of Israel's population.

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Fatal shooting of Israeli Arab sparks clashes in Galilee

Police insist that officers' lives were in danger when the man attacked a police car with a knife, but footage indicates officers may not have followed protocol.

By Noa Shpigel, Jack Khoury, and Yaniv Kubovich for Haaretz

The police shot and killed a 22-year-old man from the northern Arab village of Kafr Kana in the early hours of Saturday morning, after he allegedly attacked a police car with a knife.

However, CCTV footage may contradict the officers’ statement that a warning shot was fired in the air before the man was fatally wounded.

A large protest was held in the Galilee village on Saturday to protest the shooting. At its climax, clashes erupted between stone throwers and the large police force stationed nearby. A general strike among Israeli Arabs was announced by The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, which called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.

However, Netanyahu backed the officers and harshly criticized the protesters in Kafr Kana. “Israel is a state of law,” he said. “We won’t tolerate disturbances and riots. We will take action against stone throwers, those who block traffic arteries, and those who call for establishing a Palestinian state in place of the State of Israel. Whoever doesn’t respect Israeli law will be punished to the fullest extent. I will direct the interior minister to consider stripping the citizenship of those who call for the destruction of the State of Israel.”

Officers from the Nazareth police station were initially called to the village to arrest another man in his twenties, on suspicion of throwing a stun grenade as part of a family dispute. However, another youth, Khayr al-Din al-Hamdan, approached the police car wielding a knife, according to the police.

A police spokesperson said the officers tried to stop the man by firing a shot in the air, but when he didn’t stop, they feared for their lives and shot at him.

Footage of event raises questions

However, CCTV footage does not seem to show the officers firing a warning shot first. In the video, the youth is seen approaching the patrol car and stabbing at it with what appears to be a knife. A police officer then emerges from the car. The youth is seen running away from the vehicle and the officer appears to shoot at the youth.

Hamdan was hit in the upper body and taken to Haemek Hospital, Afula, at around 1 A.M., in serious condition. He died from his wounds in hospital.

Even after seeing the CCTV footage, Israel Police insisted the officers’ lives were in danger and that they shot in the air. They suspect, however, that the officers didn’t act according to protocol after the shooting. Also, the officers decided to get out of the car immediately next to the youth, instead of keeping their distance. The footage shows them dragging the youth to the police car, instead of calling an ambulance and treating him on the scene.
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By Activestills by 972Mag
|Published November 8, 2014

Photos by Oren Ziv, Yotam Ronen / Activestills.org
Text by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man

Thousands of people demonstrated Saturday afternoon against the deadly police shooting of a young man in the Arab town of Kafr Kanna the night before. Khir Hamdan, 22, had attacked a police van with a knife but was fleeing when an officer shot him.

Away from the main protest, police arrested at least four people who were part of a smaller group that was throwing stones and burning tires. Police used sponge-tipped bullets and putrid “skunk” water canons to disperse the demonstrators and prevent them from accessing the nearby Route 77.

In response to the killing, a general strike on Sunday was called for large portions of the Palestinian population of Israel.