IDF inquiry into Palestinian man’s shooting finds soldier’s gun was grabbed in scuffle

IDF says Palestinians grabbed officer’s gun as warning shot was fired, resulting in a Palestinian being accidentally shot.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

An IDF investigation into the shooting of a Palestinian showed that Palestinians tried to seize the weapon of an IDF officer that discharged, seriously wounding one man, Walla News reported Thursday.

The soldiers were in real danger and were violently attacked, but the Palestinian who was seriously wounded was shot unintentionally, the report said over the incident Friday in the village of At-Tuwani in the southern Hebron Hills area.

According to the investigation, Palestinians violently attacked the commander of the force during an altercation over a electrical generator the soldiers confiscated from an illegal construction site.

Video posted on social media showed the Palestinians attacking the commander of the force from the IDF’s engineering battalion , but the field of view changes just before a shot is heard and the camera then refocuses on the wounded Palestinian lying on the ground.

According to the report, after the Palestinians refused to evacuate the area and continued to attack the soldiers, the commander of the force began a standard arrest procedure, which included firing a warning shot into the air.

While firing his weapon, two Palestinians attacked the commander, with one pulling him by force and the other grabbing his weapon wildly. He subsequently fired unintentionally, hitting another Palestinian who was part of the small riot, the report said.

Soldiers had been deployed to At-Tuwani in the afternoon to investigate reports of illegal construction and the confrontation developed when the force moved to confiscate equipment, resulting in a tug-of-war between the soldiers and the Palestinians.

The Palestinian was taken to hospital in critical condition with the Palestinian Health Ministry later reporting that the victim identified as Haron Abu Aram, 24, was paralyzed by the gunshot.