Wounded Palestinian man killed in Jerusalem
UN: "Extrajudicial killings are the result of the systematic resort to lethal force against Palestinians by well-armed and well-protected Israeli security personnel."
Jerusalem24 – Last night, the Israeli military forces killed a young man, after shooting him as he was wounded , near the Damascus Gate area, in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
A correspondent of the Official Palestinian News Agency “WAFA,” reported that 25-year-old Mohammad Shawkat Mohammad Salima was killed after Israeli forces shot him at the Masrara roundabout, near the Damascus Gate in Occupied Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Jerusalem said that the Israeli forces prevented its crews from providing any paramedic care to the young man after he was shot before announcing his death.
Salima stabbed a man aged around 20, who was moderately injured in the attack near the Old City’s Damascus Gate. Israeli Police said theSalima then attempted to stab a policeman, after which they shot him repeatedly.
Following the shooting, the Israeli forces deployed heavily in the Damascus Gate area and the Old City of Jerusalem, firing flash bangs and physically assaulting Palestinians in the vicinity of the area. A number of young men were reported to be arrested and the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City were also closed.
The PRCS reported that its crews dealt with 3 injuries during the clashes that erupted when Israeli forces repressed the Palestinians at the Damascus Gate. The PRCS reported two Palestinians were injured by the flashbangs and another was injured in the shoulder after being physically assaulted by the Israeli forces. All of the injured were transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Clashes also erupted between Palestinian youth and the Israeli forces in Jabal Al-Mukabber, Southeast of occupied Jerusalem. Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli military launched flash bangs and tear gas canisters at the youth, but no injuries were reported.
The Palestinian daily newspaper, Al-Quds, reported that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory expressed its shock.
In a statement the office said, “such extrajudicial killings are the result of the systematic resort to lethal force against Palestinians by well-armed and well-protected Israeli security personnel; and the almost complete lack of accountability for the killing and wounding of Palestinians over the years at the hands of the Israeli forces.”
Meanwhile, Israeli government officials expressed their full support for the officers who shot Salima, going to twitter in support of Salima’s killing.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that the way the soldiers behaved is what is expected of them, stressing the need not to allow Jerusalem to become what he called, a “hotbed of terrorism.”
Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked also expressed her support for the soldiers, a position adopted by members of Knesset from opposition parties, including former Justice Minister Amir Ohana of the Likud Party, who expressed his support for the soldiers, in a position similar to the leader of the Religious Zionism Party Bezalel Smotrich, and the extremist Itamar Bin Gveir.
Meanwhile, Minister of Regional Cooperation Issawi Freij of the Meretz party said that this is an act that expresses indifference to human life, calling for an investigation into what happened.
The scene of Mohammad Salima’s death brings back images of the extrajudicial execution of Abdel Fattah Al-Sharif in the center of Hebron on March 24th, 2016. Al-Sharif was killed by Israeli soldier Elor Azaria who shot him as laid on the ground injured at point blank range range; killing him in cold blood.
Azaria only spent 9 months in prison for the murder of Al-Sharif.
