IDF: Troops' conduct in Naalin appears justified

The Israel Defense Forces, after conducting an investigation into a Monday incident in Naalin that left a 40-year-old Palestinian critically injured, concluded that troops had behaved according to protocol, the IDF said in a formal statement.

The injured man, Awad Srur, who is believed to be mentally ill, was reportedly wounded by four rubber-coated steel bullets fired at him point blank. According to a hospital in Ramallah, one bullet hit his eye, which had to be removed.

The soldiers who shot him had arrived at the West Bank village in order to arrest Srur’s brother, Aked, who has been active in the struggle against the separation fence being erected in the area.

Srur’s friends and neighbors stressed that Awad could not have been threatening the soldiers. Neighbor Abu-Muhammad said that Awad had merely stood blocking the doorway of the house, shouting: ‘Leave my brother alone!’ before being shot by the rubber bullets.

Abu-Muhammad reported that he hurried back to his own home and “heard the shots in the distance as well as the sound of a stun grenade, then heard women crying,” he said.

Awad Srur in the hospital - critically injured

“I later came and knocked on the door. The soldiers yelled ‘Army! Army! Go away’ but eventually opened the door. I saw Awad dying, in a house full of blood. The soldiers didn’t even try to come to his aid.”

Kassem, the oldest Srur brother, told Ynet that his injured brother can't even talk.

"He stutters badly, and all he asked was that the soldiers wait before breaking into the house and rooms because there were people inside," he said. "At first the troops shoved and dropped him, but he continued to say to them, 'Wait, wait.' They must have thought that he was irritated with them, so they decided to silence him."

The IDF statement notes that, upon noticing that Awad had been hurt by the rubber bullets, they attempted to give him first aid, but he shut himself in one of the rooms in the house.

Barghouti: Try Barak at the Hague

The Naalin incident sparked outrage in the Palestinian Authority. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a parliament member, said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the IDF soldiers who took part in the incident should be tried by the The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. 

Barghouti condemned what he defined as "the international community's silence in light of the ongoing Israeli crimes," claiming that "Israel's brutal policy is aimed at breaking the non-violent popular protest model implemented in Naalin, Bilin and other places where Israel operates with unrestrained violence."

The Yesh Din human rights organization called on the judge advocate general to instruct the army to launch an immediate investigation into the shooting incident.

"There cannot be any justification for shooting a bullet at the head of an unarmed man during an arrest attempt," said the organization's research director, Lior Yavne.

'Ban rubber bullets'

The B'Tselem human rights group appealed to Attorney General Mazuz and urged him to work to "stop the illegal shooting" and instruct the army to prosecute soldiers and police officers who have violated open-fire orders to the full extent of the law, as well as the commanders who allow the shooting.

According to B'Tselem, an initial investigation into the Monday morning's incident revealed that two bullets had infiltrated Srur's skull and a third one hit him in the chest.

"The security forces have adopted a practice of lawless shooting of rubber-coated steel bullets in the West Bank, which has led to the death of two Palestinians since the beginning of the year, and to the injury of numerous people.

"Since the start of the second intifada, 21 Palestinians have been killed by the firing of such bullets, which are supposed to be nonlethal," a group official said.