Hebron soldier asks to exhume body of stabber he shot

Attorneys defending an IDF soldier against manslaughter charges for his controversial shooting of a disarmed Palestinian stabber asked military courts on Sunday to order the exhumation of the dead man’s body, which was buried over the weekend in the West Bank.

The defense team for Sergeant Elor Azaria told the Jaffa Military Court that it had previously informed the court of its intention to request its own autopsy on the body of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif before his remains were returned last week.

Attorney Eyal Besserglick told Army Radio that returning the body to the Palestinians had a negative impact on the defense’s position and the legal process.

“In the middle of the night, the body of the terrorist was handed over, when we had declared in court that we intend to bring our own pathologist,” Besserglick stated. “This has caused evidential damage, without a doubt, to the possibility of the defense examining the body.”

Although Azaria admits to shooting Sharif, his defense attorneys had indicated they could seek to reexamine the body, after pathology reports showed Sharif was already seriously wounded in the lungs and groin from previous shots fired at him. The defense team suggested that the earlier gunshots may have already caused mortal wounds that should be taken into consideration.

Sharif’s body was returned to his family Friday, and a crowd estimated at 1,000 attended his funeral in Hebron the next day. The body was wrapped in a Hamas flag, as seen in a video broadcast by Hamas channel al-Quds TV.

In April, the military prosecution indicted Azaria for manslaughter and unbecoming conduct for shooting and killing Sharif on March 24, several minutes after Sharif was shot in the act of stabbing Israeli soldiers in Hebron.

Sharif and another assailant stabbed and wounded one soldier before troops opened fire on them, wounding Sharif and killing the second attacker.

Graphic footage from the scene showed Sharif wounded but apparently incapacitated several minutes later. Then Azaria could be seen arriving and shooting him in the head. Azaria was arrested, with rights groups labeling his action a summary execution.

Azaria has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, with his attorneys last week telling the court their client suspected there were explosives on Sharif’s person and that he posed an immediate threat to soldiers at the scene.

The case has sparked much controversy and inflamed political tensions in Israel. Despite strong condemnation of Azaria’s actions by top military brass, including then-defense minister Moshe Ya’alon and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, far-right supporters and some politicians have accused the defense establishment of abandoning one of its own.