Friday, August 26, 2016

IDF troops shoot and kill an unarmed Palestinian at a military post outside Ofra settlement nr. Ramallah. The man does not open fire on the soldiers, despite initial reports to the contrary. A Palestinian official later says that the slain Palestinian suffered from mental disabilities and that he had entered the military area by accident. In an uncharacteristic response, the IDF does not label the man a terrorist. Israeli forces return the man’s body to his family in the evening. Meanwhile, Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian driver in Silwan, East Jerusalem, because they think he is attempting to ram them. The police later report that the man was drunk and not attempting a ramming attack. Elsewhere in the West Bank, the IDF violently disperses Palestinians, Israelis, and international activists at Friday demonstrations against Israel’s occupation, settlements, and separation wall in 3 villages nr. Ramallah (Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, and Nabi Salih), Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya, and along Gaza’s border nr. Gaza City; 1 Palestinian is injured. IDF troops conduct raids and house searches in 2 villages nr. Hebron and in Balata r.c. nr. Nablus, arresting 2 Palestinians and sparking minor clashes (there are no serious injuries); and patrol in 3 villages nr. Hebron during the day. Israeli troops also deploy crowd-control measures on Palestinians attending a soccer match in al-Ram nr. Jerusalem. Around 1,200 Palestinians suffer tear gas inhalation. (HA, MNA, TOI 8/26; PCHR 9/1)