PA security: No proof Palestinians attempted stabbing attacks

Ma’an – August 18, 2015

RAMALLAH – ‏The Palestinian Authority security forces on Tuesday said that there was no evidence that Palestinians shot by Israeli forces in recent days, in two cases fatally, had stabbed Israeli soldiers.

In the last week, Israeli forces have shot three Palestinians, killing two, who they claimed attempted to stab Israeli soldiers or Border Police officers.

However, the spokesperson for the PA security forces, Major-General Adnan Dmeiri, said in a statement that Israel had provided no evidence to support its allegations.

He questioned the fact that in each case the Israeli army or police force investigated its own soldiers or officers, “without the interference of any other party.”

He said that the investigations had portrayed the Israeli soldiers and officers as “heroes.”

Dmeiri criticized the fact that the army and police force were both the investigators and the “executors” of Palestinians.

Most recently, Israeli forces shot dead a young Palestinian man on Monday afternoon after they claimed he attempted to stab an Israeli Border Police officer.

An Israeli army spokeswoman alleged that the Palestinian man approached Israeli Border Police officers at Tappuah junction, known to Palestinians as Zaatara military checkpoint, asking for “medical assistance.”

The spokeswoman said that he then pulled out a knife and attempted to stab an Israeli officer before he was shot dead.

She said that the Israeli police officer was lightly injured.

Two days earlier, Border Police shot dead another Palestinian after the army said he stabbed an Israeli Border Police officer near Beita in southern Nablus.

Rafeeq Kamil Rafeeq al-Taj, 21, was shot five times, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.

On the same day, Israeli forces shot and lightly injured a Palestinian man after he allegedly stabbed a soldier west of Ramallah. He was taken into custody following the incident.

Israeli media recently reported that the Israeli army had implemented new rules of engagement, requiring soldiers in the occupied Palestinian territory to hold their fire unless there is a genuine threat to their lives.

Previous rules allowed Israeli soldiers to use fire “warning shots” when their lives were not at imminent risk, and subsequently aim for lower extremities when engaging with Palestinians on the ground.

Since the beginning of 2015 Israeli forces have injured an average of 37 Palestinians a week, and killed a total of at least 25 Palestinians, according to UN figures.