Israeli security guards shot and killed a Palestinian at the Qalandiya checkpoint between the central occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem on Monday around 10:30 a.m.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosen claimed that a Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli security forces at the checkpoint, and that forces shot the suspect.
Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri confirmed shortly afterwards that the ‘suspect’ was killed, saying “a Palestinian pedestrian approached a security guard in a path for vehicles welding a knife and was neutralized.”
F.Y.I: Palestinian was shot dead today by the Zionist Occupation at Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem.
Pic of the martyr. pic.twitter.com/g9chyRrVg7
— Muhammad Smiry (@MuhammadSmiry) November 22, 2016
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the slain Palestinian as Jihad Muhammad Said Khalil, 48, from the village of Beit Wazan in the West Bank district of Nablus.
According to Ma’an documentation, Khalil is the latest of 240 Palestinians to have been killed by Israelis since the beginning of a wave of unrest (known in Palestine as al-Quds Intifada) across the occupied Palestinian territory in October 2015, the majority of whom were shot dead by Israeli forces.
Six Palestinians have been killed at the Qalandiya checkpoint alone in that time period, and 12 have been killed by security guards. During the same time period, 34 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians.
Jihad Khalil, 48, shot & killed by IOF at the Qalandiya checkpoint. No surveillance has been seen to back their claims of attempted attack pic.twitter.com/K9cbg7C6HG
— Abbs Winston (@AbbsWinston) November 22, 2016
Throughout the unrest, rights groups have repeatedly denounced what they have termed Israeli forces’ “shoot-to-kill” policy against Palestinians who did not constitute a threat at the time of their death or who could have been subdued in a non-lethal manner.
While Israel alleges many of those were attempting to attack Israelis when they were shot, Palestinians and rights groups have disputed Israel’s version of events in a number of cases.
(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)
