A soldier who shot a neutralized terrorist to death, apparently fearing he was still alive and would carry out a suicide bombing, is under investigation after the release of a B’tselem video that lacked sound.
On Thursday morning, during the festive Jewish holiday of Purim, two Palestinian terrorists jumped on a IDF soldier in Hebron and stabbed him. The victim, moderately wounded, was evacuated to a hospital.
Both terrorists were neutralized. However, one of them, thought to be dead, was suddenly seen moving. Another soldier shot him in the head, saying he feared the assailant would attack.
B’tselem, a left-wing organization known to publish propaganda against the Jewish state and the IDF, filmed segments of the incident to show that the army killed the neutralized terrorist, who ostensibly posed no threat. The soldier who shot him is currently under investigation.
“What happened today in Hebron does not represent the values of the IDF. The IDF expects its soldiers to behave level-headedly and in accordance with the rules of engagement,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated. His statement was backed by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who said the case would be handled “with all due severity.”
“Even when the blood boils, we must not allow such loss of reason and such loss of control,” Ya’alon declared.
An IDF soldier stands guard during annual Purim parade in Hebron. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
“The soldier who shot the terrorist has been arrested,” IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz announced. “We will have to check how this happened and we will investigate.”
A civilian paramedic who was present, however, said it was feared that the neutralized terrorist, dressed in a heavy coat despite the warm weather, was armed with a suicide bomb vest and would detonate it.
The paramedic explained that as they were treating the injured soldier, someone shouted, “Look out, look out! He’s trying to blow himself up. Get the bomb squad.”
Had the B’tselem video recorded the sounds, he continued, “you’d be able to hear it as well.”
IDF soldiers at the site of a terror attack in Hebron in December. (AP/Nasser Shiyoukhi)
Meanwhile, the shooting of the terrorist was condemned by the United Nations as well as by the Palestinian Authority, which has labeled it a “war crime.”
Science Minister Ofir Akunis told Radio Tel Aviv, “Reality needs to be reality and not a video of B’Tselem,” referring to the Arab camerawoman of the radical leftist NGO who filmed the soldier without sound, Arutz Sheva reported.
“What is already clear now is that this onslaught against the soldier is hypocritical and unjustified, and it is better to have a soldier who makes a mistake and stays alive than a soldier who hesitates and the terrorist kills him,” Member of Knesset Avigdor Liberman said, calling the condemnation “hypocritical.”
A recent Palestinian riot in Hebron during a mass funeral for terrorists. (Flash90)
On Friday morning, when Purim is celebrated in Jerusalem (the holiday is a day later in a walled city), another Palestinian terrorist attempted to carry out a stabbing, but security forces thwarted the attack.
Hebron is one of the hotbeds of Palestinian terror.
In January, Israeli security captured the third terror cell within weeks in the city. The IDF shut down a Palestinian radio station in Hebron for incitement to violence.
By: United with Israel Staff