Two Israeli officers will be fired from their positions while a third will be reprimanded over the death of an elderly Palestinian-American who died after being detained by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.
According to an Israeli military’s statement, the death of Omar Asad, who had lived in Milwaukee before retiring to his native Palestinian hometown of Jiljilya, resulted from “a moral failure and poor decision-making”.
Omar Asad, 78, died following his detention by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank last month. https://t.co/vjNwTXVOJo #freepalestine #PSCThailand #bds #gaza #PalestineWillBeFree #SaveSheikhJarrah #boycottisraeligoods #apartheidisrael
— PSC Thailand (@PSCThailand) February 1, 2022
On January 26, Palestinian doctors revealed that Asad died of a stress-induced heart attack caused by the circumstances of his detention.
The autopsy also listed other injuries on Asad’s body, such as “bruises and abrasions”, due to the shackles around Asad’s wrists.
Isreali soldiers detained 78-year-old Omar Asad on January 12, at around 3 AM, during a raid in the occupied West Bank village of Jiljilya, near Ramallah.
Fouad Moutee, head of the Jiljilya village council, told the official Palestinian news agency WAFA that Asad was going home after a visit to his relatives when Israeli soldiers stopped his vehicle and pulled him out, blindfolded and handcuffed him, before leaving him in an under-construction building.
🔊🔊🔊Today, @tammybaldwin and @RepGwenMoore have asked the Biden administration to investigate the killing of Omar Asad. 🔊🔊🔊https://t.co/zi36DA5gjm
— Malak Shalabi (@mshalabiye) January 31, 2022
At approximately 4:30 in the morning, after the Israeli soldiers had left the area, residents rushed to the building and found Asad’s lifeless body. Palestinians hold Israeli soldiers responsible for his death.
Later on that day, the US State Department called for a thorough investigation into the death of the Palestinian-American citizen.
According to the military’s statement, the Israeli army’s disciplinary probe found “an ethical failure by the soldiers and a mistake in their thought process, alongside a severe violation of the value of respecting people.”
The Israeli representatives forwarded the findings to the American military attaché in Israel.
(The Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)
