PALESTINIAN SHOT DEAD AFTER ALLEGED ATTACK AT DAMASCUS GATE
Al Quds, 2 Muharram/15 October 2015 (MINA) – A Palestinian man was shot dead at the Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday after an alleged attack on security forces, Israeli police and media said.
Israeli police responded to the scene after the alleged attack and a suspect with a knife was shot dead, Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said, Maan News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
Witnesses said the man was”executed in cold blood” after beingshot with 14 bullets and left to bleed on the ground. Israeli forces deployed in the area and shouted “terrorist, terrorist” at the suspect before shooting him, they added.
A Ma’an reporter identified the man as Basil Bassam Ragheb Sidr, 20. Initial reports incorrectly said he was 14.
Video footage captured by anMSNBC news crew show the man running down steps at Damascus Gate away from security forces, holding what appears to be a knife and a mobile phone.
Israeli security forces then open fire multiple times.
Israeli media reported that the man was approached after acting suspiciously and drew a knife at Israeli security forces.
The latest death brings the total number of Palestinians killed since Oct. 1 to 31, with at least 17 shot dead at demonstrations.
At least seven Israelis have been killed in the same time period.
On Tuesday, two Palestinians were shot and killed after they allegedly carried out attacks that killed three Israelis and injured up to 27 in four separate attacks across Israel and occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday.
In the wake of the attacks, Israel’s government immediately suggested punitive measures against Palestinians, including the closure of Palestinian neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem and arming more Israeli citizens with guns.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel’s security cabinet announced that Israeli police are now entitled to “impose a closure on, or to surround, centers of friction and incitement in Jerusalem, in accordance with security considerations,” according to reports by Israeli news site Haaretz.
The cabinet also gave approval for the revocation of residency status for Palestinians who carry out attacks as well as the police closure of occupied East Jerusalem.
Israel’s security cabinet also decided at a meeting late Tuesday that the bodies of Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces after carrying out attacks on Israeli citizens would no longer be returned to their families.
The decision, which was among a series of stringent security measures, was taken in order to stem protests that frequently accompany the funerals of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, a spokesperson for Israel’s Public Security Ministry said.
Israeli media reported that Israel will bury the Palestinians’ bodies in secret instead of handing them to their families.
The decision came after two Palestinians were shot dead after they killed three Israelis in attacks across Israel and occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Israeli rights group B’Tselem has called the Israeli government’s response to recent escalation in the area as “the very inverse of what ought to be done” in realistic efforts to stop current violence.
“The events of recent weeks cannot be viewed in a vacuum, isolated from the reality of the ongoing, daily oppression of 4 million people, with no hope of change in sight,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday. (T/P010/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
