Rights group: Settlers executed Palestinian stone-thrower; army covered it up

Israeli rights group B’Tselem accuses two Israeli men of shooting to death a Palestinian man in the West Bank earlier this month for throwing rocks at cars.

B’Tselem says contrary to the IDF’s version of events, Mohammed Abdel Fattah was not killed during an attempted stabbing attack near the village of Hawara, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

According to the group, Fattah was throwing rocks at cars with Israeli license plates and hit one of them. The Israeli driver then pulled over and two gunshots were heard before he exited the car, B’Tselem says.

As Fattah hid behind a nearby dumpster, the Israeli man continued to shoot at him, and the driver of a truck that stopped at the scene also opened fire, according to B’Tselem, which says the two continued to shoot at Fattah as he lay on the ground.

B’Tselem says partial video of the incident backs its assertions, while accusing Israeli troops of erasing security camera footage from a nearby shop.

“The identity of both shooters is known. If the authorities so choose, they could easily track them down, at least for questioning. Yet given the troops’ conduct immediately after the incident, and Israel’s longstanding policy, the chances of this are slim to none,” it says in a statement.

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