freepalestine
10th January 2011, 07:24
Israeli Army Defends Hebron Operation that Results in Killing of Innocent Palestinian
Tania Kepler
http://www.uruknet.info/pic.php?f=9funeral.jpg (http://www.uruknet.info/pic.php?f=9funeral.jpg)
67-year-old Omar Kawasme was shot in the head late in the early hours of Friday morning (7 January), while sleeping in his bed.
(AIC) (http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/hebron/3162-israeli-army-defends-hebron-operation-that-results-in-killing-of-innocent-palestinian)- January 9, 2011
The Israeli army is defending an operation in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, which left an innocent elderly man dead.
67-year-old Omar Kawasme was shot in the head late in the early hours of Friday morning (7 January), while sleeping in his bed.
His son, Rajaeh Kawasme, told the AFP news agency that Israeli troops entered the house while his mother was praying and his father was asleep, and that they locked his mother is another room, and then opened fire on his father in his bed.
"They murdered him in cold blood with 13 bullets in the head without even checking his identity," Rajaeh Kawasme told AFP. "After they killed him, they asked for his identity card."
According to the Israeli military, the special unit was in Hebron to find five members of a Hamas military wing that had recently been released from a Palestinian Authority prison in Jericho.
Omar Kawasme was an uncle of Wael al-Bitar, one of the Hamas prisoners being sought by Israel, whom the military believed was in Kawasme’s house. The Israeli military did not stop to confirm the identity before assassinating the man in his sleep.
After realizing the operation left an innocent civilian dead, the military released a statement saying, "During this morning's arrest operation, a Palestinian man who was present in one of the terrorist's homes was killed. The IDF regrets the outcome of the incident," a statement said, adding that an investigation had been opened.
The Israeli army made no statements about the legality of its plans for an extrajudicial execution in Hebron, plans that, as noted, ended in the killing of an unrelated man.
"There is no indication that he was involved in any terror activity at any stage and therefore we regret the incident," a spokesman explained, saying the killing of Kawasme was "definitely not intentional" as he was "not a target."
According to the Israeli news daily Haaretz, the Israeli army "defends (the) operation" nonetheless. They were also able to arrest the Hamas members, who are now in Israeli custody.
"Hamas holds the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank responsible, along with the occupation, for this crime," Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri told a news conference.
"We call on the Palestinian Authority to immediately stop political arrests and to give the resistance a chance to protect the Palestinian people in the West Bank."
Kawasme was buried in a Hebron cemetery on Friday with thousands attending the funeral. At the same time, several thousand people rallied in Gaza City, reported AFP, with protesters waving green Hamas flags and shouting: "The Palestinian Authority is collaborating with the Zionists" and "No to political arrests!"
:: Article nr. 73737 sent on 09-jan-2011 20:38 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=73737 (http://www.uruknet.info?p=73737)
Tania Kepler
http://www.uruknet.info/pic.php?f=9funeral.jpg (http://www.uruknet.info/pic.php?f=9funeral.jpg)
67-year-old Omar Kawasme was shot in the head late in the early hours of Friday morning (7 January), while sleeping in his bed.
(AIC) (http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/hebron/3162-israeli-army-defends-hebron-operation-that-results-in-killing-of-innocent-palestinian)- January 9, 2011
The Israeli army is defending an operation in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, which left an innocent elderly man dead.
67-year-old Omar Kawasme was shot in the head late in the early hours of Friday morning (7 January), while sleeping in his bed.
His son, Rajaeh Kawasme, told the AFP news agency that Israeli troops entered the house while his mother was praying and his father was asleep, and that they locked his mother is another room, and then opened fire on his father in his bed.
"They murdered him in cold blood with 13 bullets in the head without even checking his identity," Rajaeh Kawasme told AFP. "After they killed him, they asked for his identity card."
According to the Israeli military, the special unit was in Hebron to find five members of a Hamas military wing that had recently been released from a Palestinian Authority prison in Jericho.
Omar Kawasme was an uncle of Wael al-Bitar, one of the Hamas prisoners being sought by Israel, whom the military believed was in Kawasme’s house. The Israeli military did not stop to confirm the identity before assassinating the man in his sleep.
After realizing the operation left an innocent civilian dead, the military released a statement saying, "During this morning's arrest operation, a Palestinian man who was present in one of the terrorist's homes was killed. The IDF regrets the outcome of the incident," a statement said, adding that an investigation had been opened.
The Israeli army made no statements about the legality of its plans for an extrajudicial execution in Hebron, plans that, as noted, ended in the killing of an unrelated man.
"There is no indication that he was involved in any terror activity at any stage and therefore we regret the incident," a spokesman explained, saying the killing of Kawasme was "definitely not intentional" as he was "not a target."
According to the Israeli news daily Haaretz, the Israeli army "defends (the) operation" nonetheless. They were also able to arrest the Hamas members, who are now in Israeli custody.
"Hamas holds the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank responsible, along with the occupation, for this crime," Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri told a news conference.
"We call on the Palestinian Authority to immediately stop political arrests and to give the resistance a chance to protect the Palestinian people in the West Bank."
Kawasme was buried in a Hebron cemetery on Friday with thousands attending the funeral. At the same time, several thousand people rallied in Gaza City, reported AFP, with protesters waving green Hamas flags and shouting: "The Palestinian Authority is collaborating with the Zionists" and "No to political arrests!"
:: Article nr. 73737 sent on 09-jan-2011 20:38 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=73737 (http://www.uruknet.info?p=73737)