Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teen, on Thursday night, at the Beit El checkpoint north of al-Bireh City in the central occupied West Bank.
A Ma’an reporter said that the Palestinian Liaison identified the teen as Qassem Muhammad Ali al-Abbasi, 17, from the Silwan town in East Jerusalem.
Initial reports said that the driver of a Palestinian vehicle attempted to drive into the checkpoint before Israeli soldiers opened fire critically injuring him.
Qassim Mohammed Ali al-Abbasi, 17, was killed by Israeli forces in his car while his relatives were detained after being injured in the attack #Jerusalem #Silwan https://t.co/iX1N7D188h
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) December 21, 2018
However, al-Abbasi’s friends who were with him in the vehicle refuted the Israeli claim, saying that the four of them were heading to Nablus City, in the northern West Bank, but when the road to Nablus was closed they turned back to cross via the Beit El checkpoint.
Muhammad Hani al-Abbasi added that they went into the wrong road when arriving at Beit El and suddenly realized they were inside an illegal Jewish settlement.
He said:
“As we attempted to go back to the main road we were chased by either Israeli soldiers or settlers, we could barely see as there were not enough lights and it was very dark, they were about ten kilometers far from our vehicle, we kept going and we were between two settlements.”
17-year-old Palestinian Qassim Mohammed Ali al-Abbasi was shot and killed by Israeli forces near a checkpoint near Ramallah. He's from my neighbourhood Silwan which is in east Jerusalem. #FreePalestine #IsraeliCrimes https://t.co/ebXvZcWaSI
— ??Diana Alghoul (@SuperKnafeh) December 20, 2018
Al-Abbasi continued to say,
“We were surrounded, they randomly opened fire at us, we did not stop, we kept going fast, the vehicle’s glass broke and the tires were punctured.”
He added that one of their friends, Mahmoud al-Abbasi, then started shouting “Qassem… Qassem” as Qassem was in a very difficult condition.
Al-Abbasi added that they called an ambulance before Israeli forces arrived and forced them out of the vehicle, “but Qassem did not move and we told them to get him an ambulance.”
Israel shoots and kills a 17 year-old Palestinian teenager at Beit El checkpoint in the northeastern region of Ramallah City #Murder https://t.co/OWo7cZXIaA
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) December 21, 2018
Israeli forces then told the youths to take Qassem out of the vehicle.
Israeli policemen then informed them that he was dead.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan said that al-Abbasi was killed by a bullet in the back.
The Israeli army opened an investigation into the incident.
(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)
