Israel soldiers shoot dead Palestinian driver at checkpoint

Israel soldiers have shot and killed a Palestinian man at Al-Zaeem checkpoint, which separates an illegal Jewish-only settlement in the occupied West Bank from a neighbourhood that lies in occupied East Jerusalem.

According to Al Jazeera, Nour Shuqir, from the town of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, was accused of attempting to flee an inspection at the checkpoint, hitting and lightly injuring an Israeli border officer.

“The policeman and security personnel fired at the vehicle,” said the police statement, wounding the driver, who was rushed to the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

The hospital said he arrived at the trauma unit “with no pulse and a severe stomach wound.”

https://twitter.com/AbdalrahimMF/status/1331939029806419968

This comes as attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank are on the increase.

Earlier this month, a Palestinian motorist was shot dead by Israeli soldiers who claimed he fired a pistol at the Huwara military checkpoint at the entrance of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.

Moving past apartheid: one-state is not ideal justice, but it is just and possible

The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement that the Israeli army prevented its medics from accessing the scene and providing first aid to Rawajbeh after he was shot, and that his body is in Israeli custody and could not immediately be retrieved.

A number of local and international human rights groups have raised concerns that Israeli security forces have used excessive force when confronting Palestinians suspects.

Israeli occupation forces relaxed their open-fire regulations in December 2015, permitting officers to open fire with live ammunition on those throwing stones or firebombs as an initial option, without having to use non-lethal weapons first.