The family of a Palestinian killed by Israeli soldiers at an Israeli
checkpoint last night, has denied Israel's claim that he had shot at
Israeli forces.
They say Alaa Mohammad Odeh, was approaching the
Zaatara checkpoint at the entrance to the city of Nablus by foot in
order to collect some goods for his mobile phone store. There he entered
into a conflict between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians and he was
shot dead on the spot. They say that the army then made a great effort
to cover their crime. The morning following the incident, over 30
Israeli soldiers entered the village of Huwwara to question the family
of Alaa. They also searched his phone shop, but Alaa's friends claim
this was staged as a cover up to the murder. Alaa is the 14th
Palestinian to be killed by Israeli soldiers since the beginning of
2014. In January, Amnesty International produced a report that accused
Israeli soldiers of shooting and killing Palestinians without
justifiable cause. The village of Hawara has now declared 3 days of
mourning for Alaa. Israeli soldiers claim he was involved in a shoot out
resulting in the injury of an Israeli soldier. However, his family says
he was simply going to collect a shipment at the checkpoint when he was
shot and killed by Israeli soldiers.