Israeli commander: Shooting of unarmed Palestinian unjustified

The former commander of an Israeli sergeant who shot dead an unarmed Palestinian in March has told the court that the killing was unwarranted. 

Col. Yariv Ben-Ezra, the outgoing commander of the al-Khalil (Hebron) brigade, told the military court on Wednesday that he saw no operational justification in shooting the Palestinian.

The summary execution of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif who had already been wounded by Israeli fire drew condemnation from rights groups and brought further to light the Israeli military’s conduct.

Israel arrested and indicted the officer in the shooting only after a disturbing video showing sergeant Elor Azaria firing shots at the head of the injured Palestinian went viral.

Ben-Ezra said it was apparent from the beginning that “the shooting had not been justified.”

“Since the shooting took place in a situation where life was not in danger, and the more I watched the video clip later, I understood that better," he told the court in Tel Aviv.

Ben-Ezra was the highest-ranking officer to testify in the case so far. He admitted that the injured Palestinian posed no danger based on the behavior of people at the event, the discourse, and following investigations.

The former commander also said he had not heard Azaria's claim that he shot the Palestinian because the soldier feared he was bearing explosives.

"Throughout the first stage, I heard no such claim about any such thing. The first time I heard of that suspicion was at noon, through the media, when the event was publicized,” Ben-Ezra said.

“Not on my way to the site, not at the site – the subject of fear of a bomb never came up," he added.

After seeing the video, he said, "I see no connection between the claims and the operational situation in the field, and therefore, I see no justification for the shooting."

Azaria is indicted on charges of manslaughter and inappropriate military conduct, rather than the more severe charge of murder.

The United Nations has described the killing as an “apparent extrajudicial execution” and said it was “a gruesome, immoral and unjust act.”

The Human Rights Watch has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open a formal investigation into serious Israeli crimes against the Palestinians over the past decades.

Adding further twist to the case the man who recorded the shooting has said that he had received death threats and abuse for exposing the killing.

The footage shows Sharif lying incapacitated, moving his head listlessly from side to side as a crowd of soldiers, paramedics and armed settlers move around him, appearing to make no attempts to check his condition.

The situation appears calm until another soldier shouts “stand back!” and shoots Sharif in the head at close range.

The incident was recorded by Imad Abushamsiya and published by the Palestinian Human Rights Defenders group.

Within hours it was picked up by news outlets around the world, sparking international condemnation.

Al-Sharif is just one of more than 210 Palestinians killed since Israel adopted a shoot-to-kill policy in October in response to a spate of lone-man attacks in the occupied territories.

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