The IDF defends killing a Palestinian teen. Witnesses rebuff its story
Mourners at the funeral of of Ali Abu Aliya
Oren Ziv writes in +972:
On Friday, December 4, Israeli soldiers shot and killed 15-year-old Ali Abu Aliya in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyer, near Ramallah. Abu Aliya, who was reportedly due to celebrate his birthday that evening, was shot with live ammunition while watching a demonstration taking place in the village.
Following the killing, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit stressed that Palestinians “tried to roll large rocks and burning tires… risking the lives of passengers on the Allon road [the nearby main road that crosses the West Bank from north to south].” Nonetheless, the military also stated that it had opened an investigation into the killing.
However, three young Palestinians who stood near Abu Aliya on Friday and spoke to +972 testify that Abu Aliya was not standing near Allon Road when Israeli soldiers opened fire on him. Furthermore, it would have been impossible to throw stones at Allon Road or to otherwise endanger those driving along it from where Abu Aliya was shot.
Two videos published in the Palestinian and Israeli media following the incident do show Palestinians rolling large rocks, as per the army’s statement. But the army could not confirm to +972 the exact location of the video published by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, and according to anti-occupation organization B’Tselem, which conducted an as-yet-unpublished independent investigation into the shooting, the video of Palestinians rolling stones was not filmed at al-Mughayyer at all. Protesters who examined the footage indicated that it was shot in Malik. The distance between the village of Malik and al-Mughayyer, where Abu Aliya was shot dead, is over three miles.