Israeli soldiers killed, on Friday evening, a Palestinian father of five children, including an infant, allegedly after he tried to ram them with his car near Nabi Saleh village, northwest of the central West Bank city of Ramallah. His family denied the military allegations and said the man lost control of his car after Israeli colonialist settlers opened fire at it.
The Israeli army claimed that the soldiers fired live rounds at the Palestinian car after the driver reportedly tried to ram them, and that the soldiers “neutralized the threat,” a term Israel and various Israeli media outlets frequently use when the soldiers fatally shoot a Palestinian.
The slain man has been identified as Fadi Adnan Sarhan Samara, 37, a father of five children, including an infant (two months of age) from Abu Qash village, north of Ramallah.
He works in Israel and came back home to Nabi Saleh to celebrate the Muslim feast of al-Fitr with his family.
His brothers stated that he left his home in the evening heading to the az-Zawiya village, west of Salfit in central West Bank, to drive his wife and children back home, as they were visiting her family there.
The Israeli army claimed that the man tried to ram soldiers with his car near a natural spring in the Ramallah governorate. He was shot in the leg and was left to bleed for about an hour, without any first aid.
Palestinian media outlets and residents in the area said the man lost control of his car when illegal Israeli colonialist settlers, who repeatedly invade the area, opened fire at his car, before the soldiers fired a barrage of live rounds at it, claiming that he was attempting to ram them.
#Watch| Israeli forces kill Fadi Samara, father of 5 children, near Nabi Saleh. Samara was killed in his car and left bleeding for over an hour. pic.twitter.com/FfVRNervDx
— Haneen Zaid (@HaneenZaid6) May 29, 2020
One of his brothers, and one of his cousins, were both detained by the army, and after being released, they stated that an army officer told them, after confirming his identity, that they cannot take his corpse for burial.
They stated that the military was taunting them by stating that the family can have his corpse back “maybe in an hour or two, a month or two, a year or two….”
His family, and the residents of his village, strongly denounced his murder, and stated that the Israeli soldiers are always “trigger happy” when it comes to shooting Palestinians, and that the army tries to justify these crimes by making false allegations.
They called for a serious investigation into the fatal shooting and called on international organizations to act and hold Israel accountable at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its escalating crimes and ongoing violations against the Palestinian people, their homes and property.
Protests erupted after the fatal shooting of the Palestinian man, and the soldiers fired live rounds and rubber-coated steel rounds.
A Palestinian man with Downs Syndrome was struck with a live round in his leg.
Updated From:
Palestinian Shot Dead by Israeli Troops after Alleged Car-ramming Attack — May 29, 2020, at 22:11
Israeli troops reportedly opened fire, on Friday evening, towards a Palestinian man, near the Al-Nabi Saleh (Prophet Saleh) village, northwest of Ramallah city, in the central occupied West Bank.
An Israeli army spokesperson was quoted as saying “a short while ago, we received a notification that someone driving a vehicle, has attempted to crush a number of our soldiers operating in Ramallah”.
The army spokesperson stated that the soldiers responded to the incident by opening fire, adding that there were no causalities among the soldiers.
Israel’s TV channel 12 claimed that a Palestinian young man, near the illegal Halamish Settlement, attempted to run over soldiers with his vehicle.
Local sources said that Israeli soldiers opened fire at the young man’s vehicle, killing the driver instantly, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
The young man’s identity was not yet released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health at the time of this report.
In the ensuing confrontations, Palestinian civilians, protesting the shooting, were met with live and rubber-coated steel rounds fired by the soldiers.
A Palestinian man with Downs Syndrome was struck with a live round in his leg.
