EU envoy questions if Border Police shooting of stabber was ‘extrajudicial killing’

The European Union envoy to the Palestinian Authority says that the recent shooting of a Palestinian attacker by Border Police officers could be an “extrajudicial killing.”

“Yet another violent incident in Jerusalem,” tweets Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff about the Saturday stabbing of Jewish civilian next to the Old City of Jerusalem by a Palestinian terrorist who was then shot dead.

“A young Palestinian stabbed an unarmed Israeli civilian on 4 December, and footage shows that the [Israeli Security Forces] subsequently killed the perpetrator while he appeared to be lying injured on the ground,” writes the envoy. “Stabbing attacks are clearly unacceptable. So are measures that might appear to amount to extrajudicial killings. This incident must be swiftly investigated and full accountability ensured.”

The two Border Police officers were questioned over the incident, but received widespread backing from Israeli officials, including the prime minister, and are expected to be cleared of any suspicion. The officers stopped firing at the assailant within some 20 seconds of the moment he lunged at them.