Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian judge from Jordan on Monday in an altercation at a crossing point between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials told Reuters. The Israeli military said the man had tried to seize a soldier’s gun at the Allenby bridge, which spans the Jordan River, and that troops had then shot him. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah condemned what it called the “shooting at close range” by Israeli troops. It demanded an investigation, as did Jordan. A statement from Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah’s office identified the man as Raed Alaa el-Deen Za’eiter, 38, a West Bank-born judge working in Jordan. An Israeli military official said the army was checking reports about the man’s identity. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh met an Israeli diplomat in Amman after the incident and condemned the killing, Jordan’s state news agency Petra reported. Judeh called on Israel to investigate and to inform Jordan of the result. The two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994. In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers shot dead a 20-year-old Palestinian in the West Bank. The military said Palestinians had hurled rocks at an Israeli vehicle and bus, and soldiers at the scene had responded with gunfire. “A Palestinian was injured and later died of his wounds. The Military Police Corps has opened an investigation concerning the incident,” the military said. The man’s relatives said he had been shot while tending his family’s goats near his home. “There were no signs of clashes in the area and it was clear by the man’s clothes he was there to take care of the goats,” said Laila Ghannam, Palestinian governor of nearby Ramallah. Last month, Amnesty International published a report which said Israeli forces were using excessive violence in the West Bank, killing dozens of Palestinians over the past three years in what the rights group said might constitute a war crime. posted on March 11, 2014 at 02:26AM Send an email to Joseph T. Obagbemisoye jtob91@yahoo Like JTNNG on facebook facebook/jtnng91 View Joseph T. Obagbemisoyes profile on facebook facebook/jtob91 Follow @jtob91 and get followed also jtnng.blogspot/
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 01:44:18 +0000