IDF shoots Arab Israeli allegedly trying to break through West Bank barrier
34-year-old Tawfiq Agbaria of Umm al-Fahm in serious condition; his family says army is ‘lying,’ troops opened fire ‘for no reason’
An Arab Israeli man was seriously wounded Monday after being shot by Israeli troops near the security fence in the northern West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said 34-year-old Tawfiq Agbaria and another suspect were trying to cut through the fence from the West Bank side when they were fired on. The other suspect was arrested.
The army said Agbaria was hit by a bullet in his lower body, and fled from the Israeli forces. He reached Umm al-Fahm, where he lives, and sought medical treatment, according to the military.
Agbaria’s family, however, denied the IDF’s claims, charging that he was shot without warning.
“The IDF is lying, there is no fence to cut,” the family told the Ynet news site.
“Anyone can move freely there. Tawfiq had no bad intentions, they just shot him for no reason,” the family said.
Agbaria was hospitalized in serious condition in the Hillel Yaffe hospital in the Israeli coastal city of Hadera.
