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Israeli army chief cuts jail term of Hebron shooter

The Israeli soldier, Elor Azaria, was convicted of manslaughter, and jailed for 18 months, for the March 2016 killing of Abdel al-Fattah al-Sharif in the occupied West Bank

September 28, 2017 at 12:27 pm

Israel’s military chief of staff has cut the jail term being served by a soldier who shot a wounded Palestinian in the head in Hebron, an incident captured on camera.

Elor Azaria was convicted of manslaughter, and jailed for 18 months, for the March 2016 killing of Abdel al-Fattah al-Sharif in the occupied West Bank.

On Wednesday, however, the army announced that it was reducing his sentence by four months, “out of consideration of the fact that he is a combat soldier and a warrior” who had “endured a lot”, a spokesperson explained.

According to reports, if “Azaria gets one-third of his sentence off for good behaviour, he could be released as early as March 30, 2018”.

Mustafa Barghouti, senior member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) central council, told Al Jazeera that “the reduction of the sentence is an encouragement for Israeli soldiers to commit violations” against Palestinians.

Elor Azaria and the Israeli army: One conviction doesn’t change systematic impunity