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The Israeli state lawyer’s workplace closed the case on Thursday, saying that police acted “lawfully in self-defense” after they shot and killed Mohammed Alasibi, a Palestinian citizen of Israel from a Bedouin village within the nation’s south. He was fatally shot on the entrance to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound within the Previous Metropolis of Jerusalem on April 1.
Police alleged that Alasibi pounced on an officer and tried to seize his gun, managing to fireside two photographs into the air earlier than the officer regained management of his weapon and killed him.
Palestinian witnesses offered a conflicting account, saying Alasibi argued with an officer over his alleged harassment of a feminine worshipper on her option to the mosque — the third holiest shrine in Islam. The compound, revered by Jews because the Temple Mount, can be probably the most sacred website in Judaism.
After some quarreling, Palestinians stated they heard a burst of gunfire — over a dozen photographs — all apparently fired at Alasibi at shut vary.
Alasibi’s household denied he would ever attempt to assault a policeman, describing him as bold and down to earth. They stated he had simply returned from learning drugs in Romania and was working to get licensed as a health care provider in Israel.
Israel’s state lawyer stated it had “clear, direct and stable proof that no offense was dedicated” by the police, with out elaborating or providing proof. Though Jerusalem’s Previous Metropolis alleys bristle with safety cameras, police maintained that there was no safety footage of the alleged assault.
“An investigation revealed that the incident happened in a ‘blind spot’ (of the Previous Metropolis) that’s not lined by any safety cameras,” the assertion stated. There additionally was no physique digicam footage.
Ahmad Tibi, a outstanding Arab lawmaker within the Israeli parliament, decried the investigation as a whitewash and demanded an unbiased probe.
“This can be a division that we don’t belief. Its end result was identified nicely upfront,” Tibi advised The Related Press. “The police story will not be solely unconvincing, however their refusal to publish any video of the incident confirms our suspicions … that Mohammed was killed in chilly blood.”
Israeli authorities stated their investigation concerned talking with the concerned officers, consulting witnesses and performing forensic examinations.
The Division of Investigations of Police Misconduct, which handles brutality complaints, has confronted criticism prior to now for failing to totally examine allegations.
An Israeli state comptroller’s report from 2017 stated the division closed the vast majority of circumstances into account at a “preliminary stage” of investigation, partly over issues that officers might hesitate to make use of pressure when essential.
In 2015, 66% of the circumstances delivered to the division have been closed with out questioning the officers concerned, the report stated. Fewer than 200 circumstances have been referred for disciplinary motion out of the 6,320 circumstances opened that yr.
“We’re nervous that closing recordsdata like this one will result in extra taking pictures, extra killing and extra lack of life,” stated Jerusalem-based human rights lawyer Khaled Zabarqa.
The Al-Aqsa mosque compound has lengthy been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Final week, an Israeli police raid on the mosque aimed toward evicting Palestinian worshippers who had stockpiled firecrackers set off unrest within the contested capital of Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and beyond.
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