Middle East Monitor / December 6, 2021
Top Israeli occupation officials, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, yesterday hailed the Israeli police border officers who killed at point blank range a wounded Palestinian youth.
Palestinian youth Mohammad Salimah, 25, was shot dead after wounding an Israeli at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate on Saturday.
Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported that the killing of the motionless Palestinian had been described as a “war crime”.
A video of the incident shows the Palestinian falling down after being shot by Israeli officers, they then continue to shoot him until he dies.
Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej said that the killing of the Palestinian was an “act of indifference towards human life” that “deserves to be investigated.”
He added: “You must only shoot attackers to save human lives, not take their lives when they no longer pose a danger.”
Meanwhile, Joint List MKs Aida Touma-Sliman and Ofer Cassif were both reported by The Jerusalem Post expressing harsh criticism towards the officers, calling their act an “execution”.
Touma-Sliman said it was a “horrible and terrible crime” and Cassif said the killing was a “blatant war crime.”
However, Prime Minister Bennett said that the Border Police officers acted “quickly and with determination, as is expected of them.”
Border Police Commander Amir Cohen gave them “full backing,” claiming the officers “acted resolutely, ending the incident by preventing a larger attack on both civilians and officers.”
Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked declared her support for the Border Police officers, saying that they “stand in the frontlines and we stand behind them.”
