Israeli Soldier’s Bullet to Head Killed Palestinian on Hebron Street: Autopsy

Image by Getty Images

By JTA April 4, 2016

An Israeli soldier’s bullet to the head killed a wounded Palestinian assailant as he lay prone on the ground, the autopsy determined, according to a Palestinian news agency.

Israeli doctors conducted the autopsy, which was completed Sunday, at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, with a Palestinian pathologist present. They all agreed on the findings, according to a statement from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society quoting the pathologist, Dr. Riad al-Ali, the Maan news service reported.

The soldier was seen in a video shooting Abed al-Fattah Yusri al-Sharif, who with another Palestinian had stabbed Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron on March 24. Soldiers killed al-Sharif’s accomplice but only wounded al-Sharif, who was believed to be alive when the soldier shot him while he was supine on the road.

He was supine on the pavement on the road when he was shot by a soldier who has only been identified as Seargant A.

“The results of the autopsy were expected,” al-Ali said, according to the statement. “What the whole world saw on the video that documented the shooting was more than enough, but the autopsy results assured it.”

As of Sunday evening, Israeli officials had not confirmed the statement.

Prosecutors said last week that the soldier, who has been identified only as Sergeant A., will be charged with manslaughter. The soldier was moved Thursday from prison to a military base, where a military judge said he would remain unconfined but unarmed until a verdict is delivered in his case.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO