While the army says Mohammad Khossam Khabali was shot during violent clashes, video shows him walking with friends on a main street
A video of the fatal shooting of a Palestinian shows that he was shot in the back and contradicts the Israeli military’s claim that the incident occurred during violent clashes. The army has opened an investigation into the shooting, which occurred Tuesday in the West Bank city of Tul Karm.
A video of the incident aired by a local television station shows Mohammad Khossam Khabali,a 23-year-old who used a cane to help him walk, shot in the back as he walks with a group of other people in the city in the early morning hours.
The video also shows Khabali standing with a group of friends prior to the shooting at the entrance to a restaurant. Khabali was critically wounded and taken to the Tul Karem hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Tul Karem resident, journalist Sami As-Sai, found the footage using cameras placed around the shooting site. He told Haaretz that the Israeli soldiers were just finishing a search in a nearby house when they saw a crowd of youth forming at the entrance to the restaurant.
In one of the videos he found, a person from the small gathering is seen raising his arm, apparently admonishing the soldiers. A few seconds later, Khabali is seen falling to the ground. According to As-Sai, the distance between the Palestinian group and the soldiers was around 80 meters (260 feet).
Acquaintances of Khabali, who lived in a refugee camp in the city, said he was physically disabled and cognitively impaired. He was known in the camp as someone who often looked to work simple odd jobs.
The Israel Defense Forces said that that while troops were operating in Tul Karm, “a violent riot was instigated in which dozens of Palestinians hurled rocks.”
“Troops responded with riot control methods and later with live fire,” said the spokeswoman.
The video, however, does not show any violent confrontation and soldiers were walking on a main street in the western part of Tul Karm.