Israeli army dismisses two officers and reprimands a battalion commander over the death of Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, saying it resulted from “a moral failure and poor decision-making.”
Israel’s military has said it was dismissing two officers and will reprimand a battalion commander over the death of an elderly Palestinian American earlier this month that it said resulted from “a moral failure and poor decision-making.”
Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, who was also a US national, was found dead after being detained by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank on January 12.
A Palestinian autopsy found he had suffered sudden cardiac arrest caused by the stress of being manhandled.
An Israeli military statement on Monday said an “investigation concluded that the incident was a grave and unfortunate event” while it was “determined that there was no use of violence during the incident apart from when As’ad was apprehended after refusing to cooperate.”
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Family voices concern over ill Palestinian teen held by Israel
An 80-year-old Palestinian American man dies after being detained by Israeli forces pic.twitter.com/jlAFFyL6zG
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Witnesses challenge Israeli army version
The body of Asad was found in Jiljilya in occupied West Bank with a plastic zip-tie still around one wrist, villagers said. The Israeli military confirmed that it had carried out an overnight raid in the Palestinian village.
It said it Asad was “apprehended after resisting a check.”
But Jiljilya village council head Fouad Qattoum said Asad was returning home after visiting relatives when Israeli soldiers stopped his car, bound him, blindfolded him, and led him away to a building still under construction.
Another villager said he saw Israeli soldiers walking Asad away around 3 am [local time].
More than an hour after the troops withdrew, villagers found Asad’s body in a building under construction.
According to vegetable seller Mamdouh Elaboud, he was himself detained for 20 minutes, then released.
Islam Abu Zaher, a local doctor who said he had tried to resuscitate Asad but found no pulse, adding there were no obvious signs of injury and the cause of death was unclear.
“It is possible that he suffered a heart attack or some form of panic,” Abu Zaher said, noting that Asad had previously undergone open-heart surgery and cardiac catheterisation.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh had blamed Israeli forces for the man’s death, calling it a “crime”.
READ MORE: Palestinian prisoner’s hunger strike spotlights administrative detention
Source: Reuters
Israel sacks army officers over custodial death of Palestinian American
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