JERUSALEM (AP) – The Israeli army said on Thursday that an internal investigation had found that soldiers were acting in self-defense during an incident last week in the occupied West Bank in which a Palestinian man was shot and paralyzed.
The man was shot in the neck when Israeli troops clashed with Palestinians in a town on the West Bank on Saturday. The Israeli army said a violent riot broke out when troops evacuated a building that was built illegally.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said the shooting left Haron Abu Aram, 24, quadrupled.
A statement from the military spokesman said: “The preliminary investigation has revealed that the soldiers are” facing deadly threats in the vicinity of the village of At-Tuwani. “
It is said that the commander fired a warning shot into the air, and while the shots were fired, ‘two Palestinians attacked the commander – one grabbed him by force and the other grabbed his weapon. As a result, a stray round hit another Palestinian who was part of the riot. ‘
The army said a separate investigation by the Military Police was also underway.
Palestinians and human rights groups have criticized the Israeli military for “whitewashing” cases of violence perpetrated by its troops on the West Bank and for not holding soldiers accountable.
Witnesses said the incident began when Israeli troops tried to stop the residents of the village from building a house, and seized a generator owned by Abu Aram. Critics say Israel is preventing Palestinians from building houses in areas under its control in the West Bank without hard-to-obtain building permits.
The Palestinians are demanding the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with a capital east of Jerusalem, for a future state. They say that the settlements of the West Bank of Israel – which most countries consider illegal under international law – are an obstacle to a peaceful solution to the conflict and an independent Palestinian state.