Monday, December 03, 2012

3-Dec-12 [UPDATED]: Ax-wielding Palestinian Arab is stopped by Israeli soldiers this morning

The scene [Photo credit: Gur Dotan]
There are first reports of an ax-wielding Palestinian Arab shot dead today by IDF soldiers.

Times of Israel and Ynet are both reporting that the man was driving a car on the road between the communities of Shavei Shomron and Einav in the northern Samaria region. Something about him (it's early) aroused the suspicion of the soldiers who gave chase and rammed his vehicle after he failed to stop.

According to the updated Ynet version: "The man's car crashed head on into an army vehicle transporting a Shin Bet officer and other security personnel near the Palestinian village of Deir Sharaf in the West Bank." He emerged from his vehicle and charged at the soldiers with an ax. They shot and killed him. Two soldiers were injured in the clash which caused their vehicle to flip over. It's worth noting that stoning and firebomb attacks on Israeli vehicles have significantly increased in the past month.

UPDATE Monday December 3, 2012 at 1:40 pm: The IDF issued a note around one o'clock this afternoon saying no soldiers were involved in this incident. We're awaiting further details.

UPDATE Tuesday December 4, 2012 at 8:00 am: Ma'an, a Palestinian Arab newspaper, reports the incident under the heading "Palestinian shot dead by Israeli agents near Nablus". It adds these details:
Witnesses identified the dead man as Hatem Shadid of the nearby village of Alar. His vehicle collided with an Israeli jeep near the northern West Bank village of Beit Lid, they told Ma'an... Shadid then approached the Israelis, who were already injured from the crash, hitting one in the head and the other in the shoulder with an object that he was carrying. Israeli officials said it was an axe... Shadid's brother Khaled, reached by Reuters, said he had not received any official notification of the death. He said Shadid was a 35-year-old construction worker with five children.
Consistent with the way reality is depicted in sharply different versions in this ongoing war, a pro-Palestinian Arab version is bouncing around Twitter this morning in this form: "Martyr Hatem Shadid from Illar, Tulkarm - shot dead in cold blood today by Zionist Shin Beth agents".

No comments: