UN Raps Gruesome Killing of Wounded Palestinian by Israeli Soldier
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United Nations condemned on Friday the “gruesome” killing of a wounded Palestinian by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank, after a video of the death spread widely online.
“I strongly condemn yesterday’s apparent extra-judicial execution of a Palestinian assailant in Hebron in the occupied West Bank,” UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement.
“This was a gruesome, immoral and unjust act that can only fuel more violence and escalate an already volatile situation.”
An Israeli soldier was caught on video shooting a wounded Palestinian in the head as he lay on the ground. The clip, which was widely shared online, shows what appears to be one of the most flagrant cases of Israeli forces’ use of excessive force in the wave of violence that erupted in October.
The incident was condemned as a “war crime” by Palestinians.
But former Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman defended the shooting, saying it was “hypocritical and unfair to gang up against the soldier.Better a soldier who makes a mistake but stays alive than a soldier who gets killed by a terrorist because he hesitated,” he said.
Bezalel Smotrich, an MP from the far-right Jewish Home party said, “Morally speaking, a terrorist who tried to murder Jews deserves to die.”
The Tel Aviv regime's latest atrocity was also condemned by Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director, Philip Luther, who said the shooting could easily be deemed as a war crime.
Al-Khalil, the largest West Bank city, has witnessed escalated tensions between some 200,000 Palestinians and several hundred Israelis living in illegal settlements under heavy military guard.
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.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.
At least 208 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.
