MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / December 23, 2022
Family of Naim Badir accuses officers of killing 23-year-old in ‘cold blood’, while authorities claim he shot at them and attempted to ram police with his car.
Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian man on Friday morning in Israel’s Kafr Qasem, in an incident that left two police officers slightly wounded.
Police said they were asked to come to 23-year-old Naim Badir’s home for an unspecified reason, and on arrival he opened fire at them and attempted to reverse his car into them.
Speaking to local media, Badir’s family has denied the Israeli police’s version of events, accusing them of killing Badir in “cold blood” and concocting a “false story”.
A family member said: “The police, after killing our son Naim in cold blood, stormed the house and destroyed it completely in front of the children, who screamed, cried and were terrified of their behaviour.”
Kafr Qasem is a Palestinian village in central Israel and the site of the Kafr Qasem massacre, in which the Israeli border police killed 50 civilians in 1956.
Israeli police chief Kobi Shabtai said the security forces’ quick response “prevented a wider attack that was planned against the police force operating in the settlement”.
Israeli police released footage that purported to show Badir aiming a gun at officers outside his house before retreating. Another segment shows a car reversing up an alley towards what appears to be police.
Increasing incidents
There is a growing spike in Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this year, as well as a resurgence of Palestinian armed resistance.
Since January, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has risen to 218, including 52 in the Gaza Strip and 166 in the West Bank, making it the deadliest year on record for Palestinians since 2005.
Meanwhile, 29 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed by Palestinians in the same period, the highest number since 2008.
Israel has recently been conducting raids across the West Bank on a near-daily basis, often killing or wounding Palestinians in the process.
The operations have resulted in more than 2,500 arrests, according to Israeli authorities. Many of the deadly raids have occurred around Jenin and Nablus.
On Thursday, Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian footballer during a raid in Nablus.
Ahmad Atef Daraghama, 23, was killed by Israeli gunfire as Palestinian crowds went to the streets to confront settlers, who were accompanied by soldiers, from visiting the flashpoint Joseph’s Tomb holy site.
Israel’s “shoot-to-kill policy” has been widely criticized as the number of Palestinian deaths at the hands of its forces increases.
