Fleeing Palestinian killed by Border Police turns out to be unarmed
Border Police fatally shot a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem they suspected was carrying a weapon in Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday, after he refused orders to stop. The man, Iyad al-Halak, 32, was later found to be unarmed and a special needs student on the way to school.
“Police units on patrol there spotted a suspect with a suspicious object that looked like a pistol. They called upon him to stop and began to chase after him on foot, during the chase officers also opened fire at the suspect,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
According to the statement, police officers who were stationed near Jerusalem’s Lion’s Gate noticed a young man holding a “suspicious object” that they said looked like a gun, and told him to stop in his tracks, after which the man began to flee.
Border Police were called by Jerusalem policemen to help them chase the man on foot, during which two of the border policemen fired at him, resulting in his death.
After the chase, police searched the area for the “suspicious object,” which was allegedly in the man’s hand, but never found it.
Following the incident, the gates to the Old City were closed by Jerusalem police, in fear of protests. The Temple Mount is scheduled to reopen Sunday.
A few dozen people gathered in downtown Jerusalem Saturday night to protest the shooting.
Joint List MK Ofer Cassif called Al-Halak’s death “murder by police” as a result of government incitement.
“The case today in Jerusalem can only be defined as murder by police,” Cassif tweeted. “The incitement from the corridors of the government has done its best and now every Palestinian is a terrorist until proven otherwise.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, whose daughter is autistic, tweeted that Al-Halak’s death was “heartbreaking.” “The death of a young person with special needs is heartbreaking and all of Israel bows their heads. This is not our way,” he tweeted.
The initial investigation by the Police Investigation Department revealed that one of the Border Patrol officers shot towards Iyad’s lower body during the chase, but missed, and the other shot him after their pursuit reached a dead end alleyway.
The two are being investigated in suspicion of causing death by negligence.
The two border policemen laid the blame for the misunderstanding on the Jerusalem police officers who initiated the chase. They claimed that the “blue cops” who had started the pursuit had told them that it was a terrorist
and that they were convinced that the fugitive Palestinian was indeed planning to carry out an attack.
One of the border police officers suspected of shooting al-Halak was released later Saturday afternoon and placed on house arrest, according to The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication Maariv.
The lawyer of al Halak, Gad Kadmani, said “this is a murder, and this is not the first time this has happened. The case needs to be thoroughly investigated. Eight bullets were fired at him – there are cameras that recorded everything.”
The secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat condemned the incident on Twitter, saying: “Israeli Occupation Forces in East #Jerusalem assassinated Iyad Khayri, 32 a disabled Palestinian. A crime that will be met with impunity unless the world stops treating Israel as a state above the law &@IntlCrimCourt fulfills its mandate.”
The Israel Police Department released a statement later on Saturday in reaction to the incident.
“Unfortunately, we have witnessed blatant and irresponsible generalizations from public and government figures on both police and the Border Police who work day and night for the safety and security of all Israeli civilians. The role and mission of police forces in Jerusalem, and especially the old city is a complex task, involves complex decision making, sacrifice and risking of one’s life,” the statement said.
“In the past few years, including recently, we have witnessed a number of brutal attempts to harm and kill Border Police in the Old City and its surrounding areas. Although most of these attacks were unsuccessful, due to the alertness of the police and their quick and professional responses, some of those attempts were successful and took lives.”
“The case was transferred to the Department of Police Investigations to be examined and investigated. It is appropriate to wait for the results of the investigation’s findings before drawing any conclusions, and to avoid the ugliness and wrongful outbursts of commentary on those who put protecting the citizens of Israel in front of the their own lives,” the statement added.
Reuters report. contributed to this • political right to any Palestinian statehood initiative.
Netanyahu has also been under pressure from rightwing politicians and a number of prominent settler leaders to approve an annexation plan that is separate from the Trump map published in his peace plan, that allows Israel to annex 30% of Area C, including all Israeli settlements.
The settler leaders who oppose the Trump plan have argued that his map is problematic, contending that it allows for de-facto settlement freezes and opens the door to the destruction of at least 15 settlements.
A number of settler leaders have told The Jerusalem Post that they have received worrisome messages from the Prime Minister’s Office and officials connected to the joint Israeli-US mapping process. The settler leaders told the Post that the mapping process was closed and no changes could be made. They blamed the US for taking a hardline position on the matter.
Knesset speaker Yariv Levin, who is on the joint Israeli-Palestinian mapping committee, said that the US has not offered any position on the matter.
Netanyahu clarified to Makor Rishon that the mapping process was not complete and that changes could be made to the document.
When asked by the paper if the map was closed, Netanyahu responded, “Not yet, we are sill working on it.” He insisted that the territory upon which sovereignty would be applied was 30% of the West Bank, which is the equivalent of 50% of Area C.
Netanyahu said that for four years, neither Israelis nor Palestinians would be allowed to build in the 50% of Area C that was outside of Israeli sovereignty. He referenced in this the four-year period in which, under the Trump plan, there is a process for the creation of a Palestinian state.
There are no Israeli settlements in the area Netanyahu spoke of where Jewish building would be frozen.
Netanyahu clarified that he planned to act precisely according to the dictates of the coalition agreement with the Blue and White party, which would allow him bring the issue of West Bank sovereignty to the cabinet and Knesset. That provision speaks of US support for sovereignty.
The paper also quizzed Netanyahu on Jordan’s opposition to Israel’s pending annexation plans, including warnings that it could harm the 1994 Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, seen as a cornerstone of Middle East stability.
Netanyahu said he believed that annexation would not destroy Israel’s peace treaty with Jordan, which he said was of “vital interest” to both countries.
Jordan, along with the Palestinian Authority, is in the midst of an international campaign to prevent any Israeli plans.
On Thursday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi spoke with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during a telephone conversation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Safadi tweeted that he told Pompeo, Jordan “remains committed to just peace on basis of [a two]-state solution.”
Netanyahu also gave an interview to the Hebrew daily Israel Hayom on Thursday in which he clarified that Israel has no plan to annex Jericho in the Jordan Valley and defended his support of the Trump peace plan and its provision for demilitarized Palestinian statehood.
Yamina party head Naftali Bennett has charged that 250,000 Palestinians would receive Israeli citizenship under Trump’s peace plan. Bennett was referring to those Palestinians living in portions of Area C that would be annexed to Israel under the Trump plan. It’s presumed that some 100,000 to 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C, which is under Israeli military and civilian rule.
According to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics there are some 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, the bulk of which live in Areas A and B under the auspices of the PA.
Israel Hayom asked Netanyahu about the citizenship issue for Palestinians this way: “Several thousand Palestinians live in the Jordan Valley. Does that mean they will receive Israeli citizenship?”
Netanyahu responded by referencing the Palestinian city of Jericho, located in the Jordan Valley in Area A, which has a population of over 22,000. Under Trump’s plan, Jericho would be part of a future Palestinian state.
”No,” Netanyahu said, with regard to the issue of offering Palestinians citizenships in the Jordan Valley. Then he continued, “They will remain in a Palestinian enclave. You’re not annexing Jericho. There’s a cluster or two. You don’t need to apply sovereignty over them, they will remain Palestinian subjects if you will. But security control also applies to these places.”
Netanyahu also defended himself against charges from the Right, including Bennett, about his support for a demilitarized Palestinian state as outlined in the Trump peace plan.
“If they [Palestinians] see fit to meet and accept about 10 stringent conditions – including Israeli sovereignty west of the Jordan River, preserving a united Jerusalem, refusing to accept refugees, not uprooting Jewish communities, and Israeli sovereignty in large swathes of Judea and Samaria, etc. – the [diplomatic] process will move ahead,” said Netanyahu.
He was careful, however, not to use the phrase Palestinian state in talking about the demilitarized state offered to the PA under Trump’s plan, that was unveiled in January.
The Palestinians “need to acknowledge that we control security in all areas [of the West Bank]. If they consent to all this, then they will have an entity of their own that President Trump defines as a state,” Netanyahu said.
For the past three decades Israel has “only dreamed” that such conditions would be imposed upon the Palestinians in exchange for Palestinian statehood recognition, Netanyahu said.
But he stopped short of stating that he or Israel would recognize that statehood, answering the question this way.
“Only if the Palestinians agree to Israeli military control over the entire area, they will get an entity Trump considers a state,” Netanyahu reiterated.
The prime minister defended himself to the paper against charges by his rivals on the right that he had abandoned their values. He noted that he was the first Israeli prime minster to secure US recognition for sovereignty over the Golan Heights and Jerusalem.
Netanyahu pledged to continue with that track record by applying sovereignty to portions of the West Bank, “through an agreement that will facilitate American recognition in the areas of our homeland inside Judea and Samaria.”
“These are Trump’s decisions, and the person who broached these matters with him was me. No one else,” Netanyahu said.
He attacked the International Criminal Court of Justice, which is now debating whether or not it has the jurisdiction to hear war crimes suits involving incidents that occurred in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. He accused the ICC of predetermining Israel’s guilt before any government decision had been made.
“The ICC in The Hague has already decided we are guilty of war crimes. We are defending our homeland and the soldiers and leaders and bureaucrats are all guilty of war crimes, because we dare to build homes in Gilo or Beit El.”
He continued, saying “it is absurd” and that “we will have to fight this while dealing with the coronavirus, and amid our fight against the Iranian nuclear program.”
Leon Sverdlov contributed to this report. •