'Soldiers killed wounded terrorist'
IDF soldiers open fire at three wanted gunmen in Jenin; wounded terrorist hides in house backyard, where soldiers identify rifle covered with blood; soldiers report shooting, killing gunmen for fear he is carrying rifle
The investigation reveals that during IDF's operation against wanted terrorists in the West Bank town of Jenin, the soldiers identified a group of three Palestinians, two of whom were armed and apparently on their way to fire at another IDF unit.
The soldiers opened fire at them and identified a hit. Later, the soldiers patrolled the town in search of the gunmen, and found a Kalashnikov rifle in one of the houses, surrounded by blood stains.
The soldiers sent a dog into the house's yard for fear that the wanted terrorist was hiding there. According to the information they had, the wounded terrorist was carrying a rifle.
According to the soldiers, the terrorist began shouting and moving suspiciously. The soldiers opened fire toward him and killed him.
The Palestinian was identified as Shoja'a Balawi, a senior Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member.
Palestinians: 'He was executed in cold blood'
The Palestinians were furious following the incident, and already in the night had claimed that "Balawi was executed after he was injured."
They charged that a short while after he was injured, Balawi spoke on the phone with his friends, "but when his body was found, it was revealed that a large number of bullets were fired at him from close range."
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members told Ynet that they had spoken with Balawi on the phone after he was wounded.
"Both Balawi and the two other activists that were with him said that he was lightly injured in his leg and hip. There is no doubt that he was executed in cold blood after he was arrested while being wounded," they said.
Abu Araj, commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in the Jenin area, said that "The organization members will soon make a decision on how to retaliate Balawi's assassination."
The defense establishment said Sunday morning that the Palestinian was involved in the past, together with Islamic Jihad terrorists, in shooting attacks at the West Bank settlements of Kadim and Ganim, which were evacuated during the disengagement.
In the past, he was wounded in an IDF operation targeted at another wanted Palestinian, and was lately involved in intensive development of weapons.
Gunman's uncle: Sight of body was horrifying
Kifah Nazmi, the killed gunman's uncle, said that "The family is examining all legal ways through legal sources and through the Palestinian coordination offices in order to sue those responsible for the killing and execution of my nephew."
Nazmi, a Fatah member, added that the family took the news of Balawi's killing very hard.
"Many Palestinians have been killed, and there are also those who were executed in cold blood, but the sight of the body was horrifying," he said.
Nazmi claimed that dozens of bullets perforated the body.
"But what is worse is to see the sight after the dogs bit the body mercilessly following the instruction of the soldiers who executed Shoja'a," he aide.
He added that Balawi, as an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member, was already saved in the past from an assassination attempt during the latest intifada.
"Like all al-Aqsa Brigades, he was committed to the clam, and in the past few months, although he was wanted, he completely stopped all his armed activity and activity against Israel. But the Israelis, although they were well-aware of this, decided to kill him," he claimed.
Nazmi said that "The family will find it very difficult to overcome the shock of seeing the body after the abuse it went through, both by the soldiers and by the dogs. This is a sight that will not quickly be forgotten."
Ali Waked contributed to the report
