Israel closes case into Umm Al-Hiran shooting of Bedouin

Israeli State Attorney Shai Nitzan closed the Umm Al-Hiran case in which a Bedouin man was shot dead by Israeli police.

The investigation concluded that the police officers acted legally when they fatally shot Yaqoub Abu Al-Qi’an during the demolition of the Umm Al-Hiran village on 18 January 2017.

The State Attorney asserted that, “after reviewing the materials and findings by the Police Internal Investigations Department, the investigation has ended with the determination that there is no suspicion of criminal offenses committed by the police officers involved in the incident.”

The Arab-Israeli citizen was shot and killed by Israeli police and six others were wounded, including an Arab Member of the Knesset, during a demolition raid. Israel had claimed that Abu Al-Qi’an drove his vehicle at a police officer in a premeditated attack and killed him before police opened fire on the car; however video footage that emerged soon after the incident revealed that police officers began shooting at Abu Al-Qi’an’s car first.

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Al- Qi’an’s autopsy further confirmed that his right knee had been shattered by a police bullet, which may have caused him to lose control of the car and unintentionally hit the police officer.

Israel closed the case after officials said they were unable to determine whether Abu Al-Qi’an deliberately intended to hit the officer with his car.