Israel: 23 year-old Palestinian shot dead by Israeli soldier in Bethlehem

On Thursday 7 November 2013, Anas Al Atrash, a 23 year-old Palestinian, was travelling from Jericho back home to Hebron with his brother, Ismail who was driving the car. He was asleep when they reached, around 11 p.m., the Container checkpoint in the Northeast of Bethlehem (West Bank) and was woken up as the car had to break suddenly to avoid bumps. His reflex was to quickly get out of the car.

Anas was immediately shot twice in the chest by a soldier of the Israeli Border Guard Unit. The soldier was standing three meters away from the car and shot without warning, according to several eyewitnesses, including his brother.

Ismail Al Atras was then arrested and kept for three hours, forced to lie on the floor with his hands at the back of his head. The soldiers also beat him and refused to tell him about his brother's condition.

Despite being shot, Anas Al Atrash received no medical treatment and was left on the road without any attention for an hour and a half, leading to his inevitable death. His body was eventually returned to his family, after they were informed of his death. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the Israeli military forces explained having shot the victim by alleging that Mr Al Atras came out of the car with a knife in an attempt to stab one of them.

As Anas was shot twice in the chest, this leads us to believe that the Israeli soldiers were not only trying to keep him at a distance, but also to execute him. Moreover, the lack of medical attention that led to his death characterises negligence from the Israeli soldiers. Consequently, the victim's family filed a criminal complaint for murder, which is still pending. On the same day, another Palestinian citizen was shot dead at Za'tara checkpoint as he was simply walking towards it.

Today, Alkarama solicited the intervention of UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Christof Heyns with the Israeli authorities on behalf of Mr Al Atrash's family to ensure that the authorities investigate these allegations in view of identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice.

For more information or an interview, please contact media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).