Border Police deny reports of Palestinian man beaten to death, say he collapsed after making illegal crossing

After Palestinian media reported this morning that a 57-year-old Palestinian man from the village of Zababa near Jenin was beaten to death at a checkpoint close to Ramallah, the Israel Border Police says in response to an inquiry from The Times of Israel that the man was not beaten, but collapsed unexpectedly after crossing into Israel illegally.

“Contrary to what was claimed in your inquiry, and in order to prevent misleading the public, we note that earlier today Border Police officers arrested several illegal residents who had entered Israel unlawfully in the Atarot industrial zone, near the security fence,” the Border Police say.

“The illegal residents were escorted on foot back toward the Palestinian side through a nearby gate in the fence. After they crossed to the Palestinian side, one of them suddenly collapsed.”

The statement claims that Border Police officers “provided him with initial medical treatment and called in medical forces, who arrived at the scene and evacuated him for further medical care.”