Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Second Helpless Palestinian Was Shot Dead by Israeli Soldier: Rights Group

JERUSALEM ) — The second Palestinian in a March stabbing attack against Israeli soldiers in Hebron also was executed after being downed with minor injuries, the B’Tselem human rights organization claims.

According to a statement issued Monday by the Israeli group, Ramzi al-Qasrawi was executed with a shot to the head after he was down on the ground and injured from a gunshot to another part of his body following an attempt to stab Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city.

The Israel Defense Forces said al-Qasrawi was already dead when his co-assailant, Abdel Fatal al-Sharif, was shot in the head as he lay on the ground by an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Elor Azaria, who is on trial in a military court for manslaughter.

B’Tselem said it is just now coming forward with the new accusations because the Israeli military only recently lifted severe travel restrictions on the Tel Rumeida area, allowing the group to send a field researcher into the neighborhood to collect testimonies from residents. Two residents — both B’Tselem volunteers, according to the organization — said they saw al-Qasrawi executed.

The witnesses captured parts of the incident with cameras issued to them by the organization, but did not film the moment when they claim al-Qasrawi was executed.

The neighborhood is under IDF surveillance cameras, so any execution would have been captured on video. B’Tselem said in its statement that it has no access to the footage, “but it is available to the military, which for the most part takes pains not to make it public.”

The IDF said it would investigate the claims.

Azaria, 19, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charges. His attorneys told the Jaffa Military Court that their client acted in self-defense, fearing an immediate threat to himself and other soldiers at the scene.

Azaria’s case has sent shock waves through Israeli society. Some on the political right have called for solidarity with the soldier and others, including military leaders, have suggested that such calls reflect a national crisis of ethics.

A message from our Publisher & CEO 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.

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

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.