Occupation forces kill Palestinian at West Bank checkpoint

Tamara Nassar Rights and Accountability 22 April 2020

A Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces near East Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Israeli Border Police say Ibrahim Muhammad Ali Halasa was attempting a car-ramming attack and a stabbing of a soldier at the so-called Container checkpoint near the occupied West Bank village of Abu Dis when he was killed.

The Israeli military uses the checkpoint to control Palestinian movement between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank.

Graphic footage shows Halasa driving a van running over an Israeli officer, exiting the vehicle, and lunging at and chasing him.

Israeli police say Halasa stabbed the officer with scissors as the two grappled.

The officer can be seen running away from Halasa, as the latter chases him out of the frame.

Three nearby Israelis can be seen pointing their rifles in Halasa’s direction, presumably opening fire and killing him soon after – which the video doesn’t show.

Israeli forces do not appear to have attempted to subdue Halasa with nonlethal means.

The 20-year-old Israeli officer was moderately wounded, according to Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld.

Paramedics transferred the injured officer to a hospital in Jerusalem, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

Israeli police also claim a pipe bomb was found on the scene. The area was closed off to defuse the device.

Halasa, from the village of al-Sawahira, southeast of occupied Jerusalem, was 25 years old.

Israeli occupation forces sealed off the village, arrested Palestinians, raided Halasa’s house and detained his mother.

Soldiers attacked Palestinians with tear gas canisters during confrontations at the entrance of the village.

Israel typically imposes harsh collective punishment on Palestinians following such incidents, especially against an alleged assailant’s family.

This often includes punitive demolition of the family’s home, a practice illegal under international law.

Halasa is the third Palestinian killed, including a child, by Israel since UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a global ceasefire amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the health crisis, Israel has maintained, if not increased, its demolitions, night raids, arbitrary arrests and routine harassment of civilians, making it difficult for Palestinians to take appropriate health precautions.

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Tamara Nassar

Tamara Nassar is an assistant editor at The Electronic Intifada.