An armed Israeli civilian shot and killed Omar Ibrahim Ayoub Abu Assab, 16, after he allegedly attacked two Israeli border police officers in Jerusalem’s Old City on November 17.
Omar Abu Assab was shot to death last week; Israeli officials have confiscated his body. Abu Assab is the 16th Palestinian minor to be killed by Israelis in 2021.
reposted from Defense for Children International-Palestine, November 18, 2021
An armed Israeli civilian shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy who allegedly stabbed two Israeli paramilitary border police officers in occupied East Jerusalem on November 17.
Omar Ibrahim Ayoub Abu Assab, 16, was shot and killed by an armed Israeli civilian after he allegedly stabbed two Israeli paramilitary border police officers in Jerusalem’s Old City around 5:30 p.m. on November 17, according to documentation gathered by Defense for Children International – Palestine. An armed Israeli civilian shot Omar multiple times as he seemingly struggled with an Israeli border police officer, according to DCIP’s investigation.
Video footage of the incident appears to show Omar passing two Israeli border police officers on Al-Wad street in the Old City when he attacks one of the border police officers from behind. A struggle between Omar and the second border police officer ensued, and an armed Israeli civilian appeared to shoot and kill Omar. Eyewitnesses told DCIP that the armed civilian fired at least six shots at Omar during the altercation.
“There must be an independent and impartial investigation of this killing to ensure accountability,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Where individuals allegedly carry out a violent criminal act, they should be apprehended in accordance with international law and afforded due process of law.”
Omar Abu Assab’s body remains in Israeli custody, and DCIP has been unable to determine the location or number of gunshot wounds he sustained. Omar’s parents and older brother were detained from their home in East Jerusalem’s Issawiya neighborhood and questioned by Israeli police after the killing. They were only notified of Omar’s death after their interrogations, according to information gathered by DCIP.
The incident took place next to a Jewish seminary founded by the pro-settler Ateret Kohanim organization. The armed civilian who shot and killed Omar was identified in news media reports as the head of the yeshiva. The two border police officers were taken to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem in light and moderate condition, Haaretz reported.
Omar Abu Assab is the 16th Palestinian child shot and killed by Israeli forces or civilians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the beginning of 2021, according to documentation gathered by DCIP. Israeli forces shot and killed Mohammad Amjad Salem Da’das, 15, on November 5 during confrontations between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youth near the illegal Israeli settlement Elon Moreh, northeast of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces shot and killed 14-year-old Amjad Osama Jalal Abu Sultan after he lit a Molotov cocktail in Beit Jala, in the central West Bank on October 14. Israeli forces shot and killed 15-year-old Yousef Mohammad Fathi Odeh on September 26 after he allegedly picked up a gun and fired at an Israeli military vehicle during an early morning military raid in Burqin, west of Jenin in the northern West Bank.
For a complete list of Palestinians and Israelis killed since 2000, please visit Israel-Palestine Timeline
ESSENTIAL READING:
- 450 incidents of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in two years: B’Tselem
- Israeli forces shoot, kill teenaged Palestinian boy near Nablus (November 2021)
- Resisting occupation: Palestinian killed, 1 Israeli Dead in Jerusalem (November 2021)
- Israeli forces have killed 39 Palestinian men, women, & children since May (October 2021)
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