Israeli settler guns down Palestinian in West Bank

Rasa - An Israeli settler has shot dead a Palestinian over an alleged stabbing attack in yet another instance of using lethal force against Palestinians in the occupied territories.

News ID: 427787

Date: 01 March 2017 - 23:54

RNA - An Israeli army spokeswoman said Wednesday’s incident took place in the Teneh Omarim settlement in the southern West Bank, near the Palestinian city of al-Khalil (Hebron).

She further claimed that the Palestinian “armed with a knife” broke into an Israeli settler’s home and stabbed him, adding that the settler, who had suffered light wounds, shot and killed the assailant.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victim as 24-year-old Saad Qisiah from the nearby city of Dhahiriyah.

Over the past months, Israeli settlers and the Tel Aviv regime forces have fatally shot many Palestinians, claiming that they sought to carry out attacks against Israelis.

Leading Israeli officials have come under fire for supporting the shoot-to-kill policy against Palestinians suspects.

Israel has handed down lenient sentences to those charged with extrajudicial killing of the Palestinians.

The latest example of such sentences is the case of Israeli Sergeant Elor Azaria, who has been given an 18-month jail term after being convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a severely-wounded Palestinian following an alleged stabbing attack in al-Khalil in March 2016.

Azaria was caught on camera cocking his rifle and fatally shooting Abed al-Fatah al-Sharif in the head from just several meters away while the victim was still alive.

In another development on Wednesday, Azaria appealed against his manslaughter conviction and jail term.

Three of his lawyers announced that they were quitting from the case, arguing that options other than an appeal should be pursued.

Tensions have rocked the occupied Palestinian territories since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Some 280 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in the tensions since the beginning of October that year.

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