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Israeli officer kills 17-year-old Palestinian who threw stones at army vehicle
Israeli IDF officer shoots and kills 17-year-old Palestinian throwing stones at his car
(about 3 hours later)
A senior Israeli army officer has shot and killed a Palestinian youth who was throwing stones near a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.
A senior Israeli military official has shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian who was one of a group pelting his car with stones.
A Palestinian witness and an Israeli military spokeswoman said the Palestinian was among a group throwing stones at an army vehicle near Qalandiya, a major checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that several Palestinians were throwing stones at the vehicle. They are reported to have crossed the separation wall to enter Jerusalem to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque.
The witness said the army vehicle stopped and soldiers got out and fired at the youth, whom a hospital official in Ramallah identified as 17-year-old Mohammed Sami al-Ksbeh. The hospital official said Ksbeh had been shot in the head and chest.
It is reported by the International Business Times that the brigade commander Israel Shomer exited the jeep and opened fire on the Palestinians.
Tensions in Ramallah have escalated during Ramadan (Reuters) The military spokeswoman said the Palestinian was hurling rocks at the vehicle from close range and that the soldiers inside were in immediate danger. She said warning shots were fired in the air before Ksbeh was shot at directly.
Mohammed Kasba, 17, was shot at the scene close to the Qalandiya checkpoint on Friday 3 July. He died of his wounds at a Ramallah hospital.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner confirmed that an Israeli colonel, a brigade commander in the West Bank, had shot Ksbeh. Israeli media published photos of the colonel's vehicle with a smashed windscreen, which they said was hit by the thrown stones.
Hundreds of Palestinians from Qalandiya refugee camp gathered at the Palestine Medical Center to mourn his death.
While there is a widespread presence of Israeli troops and military police throughout the West Bank, it is rare for a senior officer to be involved in a shooting incident. The army said the military police was investigating the shooting.
Israeli forces deployed in large numbers around Qalandiya checkpoint following the killing.
It is the latest in a string of fatal incidents in the West Bank in recent weeks, with casualties on both sides. Tensions have escalated during Ramadan and in the run up to the anniversary of the war in Gaza last July and August.
A IDF spokesperson said that forces called Kasba to halt and fired warning shots in the air, and once he continued throwing stones at close range, forces fired towards him.
Relatives mourn for Mohammed Sami al-Ksbeh (AP) U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, who seek a state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, broke down in April 2014 and there appears to be little prospect of them resuming any time soon.
