Description

Photo: Sami al-Ja’aar
unattributed photo posted at imemc.org

Photo: There are 45 unrecognised villages in the Negev (Getty)
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by IMEMC & Agencies

The Arabs48 News Website has reported that the Israeli police shot and kille, on Wednesday evening, a young Palestinian man, and wounded two others, during clashes with local residents in Rahat city, in the Negev.

It said Sami al-Ja’aar, 20 years of age, was shot and seriously wounded, and died of his wounds at the Barzelai hospital in Asqalan (Ashkelon).

In a statement, the Israeli Police said it was operating against drugs in Basin #25 area, and clashes with local youths who hurled stones at them. The army also moderately injured another Palestinian; two officers suffered mild injuries.

The Police is alleging the sources of fire that killed al-Ja’aar was still unclear, and that the two wounded Palestinians are related to slain Palestinian.

Dozens of military and police vehicles have been deployed in the area, especially around the Police station in Rahat, following the death of the Palestinian.

The Rahat Local Council declared a strike that does not include schools and medical centers, on Thursday, and demanded the formation of a credible investigations committee.

| Palestinian Teen Killed By Army Fire South Of Bethlehem|

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Strike called after Palestinian shot dead in Negev
By: Riya Al'sanah Date of publication 15 January, 2015
Tags
Israel, Palestine, police violence, The Negev, Unrecognised villages
Anger boils in the Negev after unarmed man killed in protests in Rahat, with Arab Knesset member blaming Israeli police for his death.

Palestinian workers in a town in the Negev have called a three-day general strike after Israeli police were accused of shooting dead an unarmed Palestinian man.

The general strike was called in Rahat on Thursday after the death of Sami Khaled al-Sajaar, 22, late on Wednesday. He had earlier been shot in the stomach during clashes in neighbourhood 26.

A National demonstration is also set to take place on Sunday after Dajaar's funeral, and Negev officials have asked for a Israel-wide strike by Palestinians on the same day.

An Israeli police spokesperson said the force was "investigating the source of the shooting".

However Talab Abu Arar, an Arab Knesset member, held police responsible for the shooting: "The police shot a man who did not pose any danger to them," he said.

"This is not the first incident in which the trigger-happy Israeli police shoot an Arab citizen, they are then exonerated by an internal police investigation."

In November, 2014, Israeli police were filmed on CTTV shooting Kheir Hamdan, 22, from Kufr Kana, a town in Galilee.

Hamdan's killing sparked a wave of clashes between citizens and Israeli police. No one has yet been held accountable for Hamdan's recorded murder.

The strike in Rahat does not include schools and health institutions. Officials however said they had dedicated the first two hours of schools to discussing police violence and in particular the murder of Dajaar.

The Negev area has experienced high tensions in the past year as the Israeli state accelerates its strategy of Judaising the Negev and relocating about 40,000 Palestinians who live on their historic land in villages unrecognised by the Israeli state.

The Araqeieb village was demolished for the 80th time on Wednesday.