Palestinian official: Man killed in Jericho died of gunshot wound

The IDF had said on Friday that the man was killed by inhalation of tear gas, not by a bullet.

By ADAM RASGON
Updated: FEBRUARY 25, 2018 00:03
An Israeli soldier fires tear gas at Palestinian demonstrators during clashes at a protest calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah January 13, 2018. (photo credit: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/REUTERS)
An Israeli soldier fires tear gas at Palestinian demonstrators during clashes at a protest calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah January 13, 2018.
(photo credit: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/REUTERS)
Coroners found that a Palestinian man killed on Thursday in Jericho after running at soldiers with a metal object, died of a gunshot wound, a Palestinian official said on Saturday.
Coroners at the L. Greenberg National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv performed an autopsy on the remains of the dead man, Yassin al-Saradih, on Friday. Rayyan al-Ali, a Palestinian doctor, was present at the autopsy, official Palestinian Authority media reported.
“The autopsy found that Saradih died due to massive blood loss after an Israeli soldier shot him in his lower abdomen,” Essa Qaraqaa, chairman of the PLO Prisoners Commission, told The Jerusalem Post.
A video shared on social media shows Saradih running at soldiers with a large object.
A soldier then shoots at Saradih, who immediately falls to the ground. Subsequently, a group of soldiers restrain Saradih, while beating him with their weapons and kicking him.
Thereafter, the soldiers drag Saradih away.
Qaraqaa’s characterization of the autopsy’s does not fall in line with the findings of a preliminary IDF investigation into the cause of Saradhih’s death.
On Friday, the IDF said a preliminary investigation determined that Saradih was seemingly not hit by the bullet the soldier fired in his direction, and appeared to have died from inhaling tear gas.
According to the preliminary investigation’s findings, before and after Saradih was arrested, a group of some 50 Palestinians was throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at soldiers, who responded with riot dispersal means including tear gas.
An IDF spokeswoman declined to comment on the discrepancy between Qaraqaa’s account and the findings of the preliminary investigation.
The army also said that its initial investigation found that after Saradih charged at the soldiers with the metal object, he tried to seize one of their weapons.
The video on social media does not clearly show Saradih attempting to snatch a soldier’s weapon.
On Thursday, Qaraqaa slammed the soldiers who arrested Saradih, accusing them of carrying out a “premeditated murder.”
“This is a crime, an execution and a premeditated murder,” he said in comments published on Wafa. “What happened reflects the soldiers’ brutality and terrorism.”