Riots, strike in Kafr Kanna after Arab youth shot dead by police

Riots erupted on Saturday in Kafr Kanna, an Israeli Arab town in the Galilee, a day after police shot a 20-year-old man from the village who later died of his wounds.

Demonstrators on Saturday set tires alight, threw stones and blocked roads in the village as they clashed with police to protest the killing. The village’s regional council also declared a strike in response and demanded a thorough investigation of the incident. Riot police were on the scene.

Police said Kheir a-Din Hamdan tried to stab an officer during an attempt to arrest him in the northern Arab town near Nazareth.

A short, edited surveillance video on the popular Israeli-Arab news website Panet claims to show the incident.

Hamdan is allegedly seen attacking a police van, banging on the windows. An officer gets out and, as Hamdan is seen retreating, is shot. He writhes on the ground, before police drag him into the van. He was taken to hospital where he died of his wounds.

After the video surfaced, police said they were launching an investigation into the killing. Police chief Yohanan Danino called for an emergency meeting on the situation.

Police said they arrived at Hamdan’s house in the Galilean town late Friday night to arrest him on suspicion of throwing a stun grenade. When he attempted to stab one of the officers, the police shot and critically injured the man, they said.

Police added that they warned the man by firing in the air, and when he didn’t desist, was shot in the chest, a series of events that was not evident in the video.

Israeli-Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi called the incident a “gangland killing” and demanded legal action against the police officer who fired the fatal shot.