Palestinian killed over alleged knife-brandishing by occupation forces, witness says ‘shot by settler ‘

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — A Palestinian man was shot on Monday, allegedly for brandishing a knife near an Israeli illegal housing unit east of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, according to an Israeli police statement that contradicts a witness testimony saying that an Israeli settler did it.

The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service confirmed the death near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, but said it had no further details.

A Palestinian approached an Israeli checkpoint near Kiryat Arba, east of Hebron, with a drawn knife in his hand. In response, occupation troops fired towards him, the occupation army statement said. 

However, Palestinian resident of Hebron, Abed Al Maw’ti Al Qawasmi, stated that the man was shot by an Israeli settler who “stopped his car suddenly and then fired at him”.

Al Qawasmi said he heard four shots, and that the man killed was not carrying “any knives or anything”. No Israelis were hurt.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions have surged in the past few months after a series of US and Israeli policy decisions that have angered Palestinians and raised international concern.

They include US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December, the moving of the US Embassy to the city in May, and Israel’s adoption of a “nation-state” law that says only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country.

However there has been a recent drop in violence along the Gaza Strip-Israel border as Egypt, the United Nations and Gulf State officials attempt to enact a truce following a months-long series of protests.

At least 170 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers during the weekly demonstrations on the Gaza-Israel border, drawing international criticism of Israel. One Israeli soldier has been killed by a Gaza sniper.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014 and a bid by the US administration to restart them has so far shown little sign of progress.

Palestinians want to establish a state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognised internationally, and maintains control over more than half the West Bank, where the Palestinians have limited self-rule.