Paramedics from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that 24-year-old Ahmed Mohammed Maslamani of the village of Toubas died of his wounds after he was critically injured by Israeli soldiers manning the Bekaot checkpoint to the east of Nablus. "He was shot in many parts of his body,” the paramedics said.
They added that the body was handed over to them at the checkpoint and that the man's ID card and cellular phone were confiscated by the soldiers.
"I was standing on the eastern side of the roadblock when I suddenly heard someone screaming. I turned around and saw a young man in a brown shirt and jeans raising his hands. Shortly afterward, two soldiers fired at him from three meters away and he fell down,” Palestinian Hatim Al-Froukh said.
Another Palestinian witness said that Maslamani, who was traveling to Jericho City where he works, had crossed the roadblock with a Coca-Cola can in his hand. "He was unarmed. When he crossed the checkpoint, he passed by a woman soldier who started yelling at him. The soldiers immediately fired at him, intensively, and he died on the spot," the witness said.
He said the shooting took place after "a heated exchange of words."
The Palestinian Authority (PA) described the incident as "another Israeli war crime and killing in cold blood."
An Israeli military spokeswoman said Maslamani did not heed orders to halt at the checkpoint and they opened fire as he came closer. The spokeswoman said she did not know the contents of a glass bottle Maslamani carried. "The soldiers apparently felt threatened," she added.
Israeli security sources said an investigation had been launched into the incident and that the army was examining whether it was necessary to shoot the man.
The PA controls the West Bank, but people moving inside the territory are required to pass through Israeli checkpoints.
On Sunday, the Israeli Army also said it was investigating the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmeh.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes early Sunday morning on the Gaza Strip, resulting in injuries to two Palestinians.
Palestinian sources said the first airstrike targeted a ground in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip where Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, trains its fighters. One man was wounded in the attack and serious damage was done to the camp and neighboring homes.
Israeli fighter jets also fired missiles at an open area west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. One civilian was injured and transferred to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, medics said.
The Israeli military said the strikes came in response to the firing of a homemade rocket into Israel on Saturday. No one was hurt in that attack.
