Palestinian man killed by Israeli military in extrajudicial assassination

13 Dec

12:11 PM

A squadron of Israeli military and police officers invaded Nablus at 1 am on Thursday, surrounded the house where a Palestinian suspected of a crime was believed to be hiding, and shot and killed the man, whi was identified as Ashraf Walid Saliman Na’alwa, 23.

Na’alwa was ‘wanted’ by Israeli forces for the murder of two Israeli colonial settlers two months ago. He was never formally charged, and Israeli forces did not attempt to apprehend him to bring him to trial or present any evidence. Instead, they shot and killed him with multiple rounds in an extrajudicial assassination that violates international law and standards.

According to Israeli sources, the name of Na’alwa was provided by several suspects after they were subjected to “harsh interrogation”, which is the euphemism that Israeli authorities use to describe torture.

The Israeli intelligence service Shin Bet told Israeli media that they worked with several other Israeli agencies to interrogate suspects and try to locate Na’alwa.

During the invasion, the military deployed dogs and heavily-armed soldiers who surrounded the building, entered the building firing heavily, shot and killed Na’alwa, and abducted two men who lived in the building with their mother.

Earlier in the day, another Israeli execution operation was carried out, this time targeting Salah Omar Barghouti, 29, who was a suspect in another crime.

In response to the assassination of Na’alwa, the Palestinian resistance party Hamas issued a statement, “The fire of resistance in the West Bank will not die until the occupation is lifted. The death of the two soldiers proves that the option of the Palestinian people is defiance. The West Bank will continue to support the forces of resistance and the blood of Na’alwa and Barghouti has not been spilled in vain. Hamas and the other resistance factions will continue to support activity to avenge their death.”