News / Palestine

Autopsy confirms Palestinian killed by shot to head

Sunday, 03 April 2016 5:40 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 03 April 2016 6:19 PM ]

Israeli soldiers cover the body of a Palestinian who was shot in head by an Israeli soldier as he lay wounded on the ground in the of town of al-Khalil (Hebron) on March 24, 2016. ©AFP

An autopsy on a Palestinian youth determines that he was killed by a final shot to his head, a doctor says, confirming his execution-style killing by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank.

"After a full autopsy, the fatal wound was in the head," Palestinian doctor Rayan al-Ali said on Sunday.

"There were several gunshot wounds. All those wounds were in the muscles, the lower limbs, and there was a wound in his right lung, but it was not fatal and did not lead to his death," he added.

The Israeli soldier shot Abdul Fatah al-Sharif in the head on March 24 while he was lying wounded by Israeli fire on the ground after an alleged stabbing attack in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron).

A Palestinian activist recorded the scene on camera and released it through a human rights group. The footage spread online and the soldier was arrested.

Israel’s Supreme Court allowed al-Sharif’s family to choose a doctor to carry out the autopsy.

On Thursday, military prosecutors had reduced the anticipated murder charge from murder to manslaughter. Under Israeli law, manslaughter signifies an intentional killing but one that was not premeditated.

The soldier and his lawyers claimed at the court hearings that he was defending himself against the Palestinian, even as he could be seen in the video lying wounded and motionless on the ground.

The soldier said he thought the Palestinian was wearing an explosive belt. However, other soldiers who were present at the time of the deadly shooting told the court that the shooter had said before the incident that the Palestinian “was alive and deserved to die.”

Tensions have heightened in the occupied territories since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Some 208 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October. Around 29 Israelis have also been killed during this period.

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