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Nephew of senior Palestinian official shot dead at checkpoint

The deceased was identified as Ahmad Erakat, nephew of Saeb Erakat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

AFP

Israeli soldiers remove the body of Ahmad Erakat, a young Palestinian man shot dead, at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank near the village of Abu Dis on June 23, 2020.

The nephew of a senior Palestinian official has been shot dead at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank after Israeli police said he drove his car at speed toward a policewoman.

The deceased was identified as Ahmad Erakat, nephew of Saeb Erakat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Ahmad, 27, was "executed" by the Israeli police on Tuesday night, his uncle said, adding that he held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for "this crime".

He dismissed the police allegation of an attempted car-ramming as "impossible", saying that Ahmad was due to be married later in the week.

Ahmed Erekat, 27, beautiful young man. A son. A brother. Fiancée. My baby cousin. Israeli cowards shot him multiple times, left him to bleed for 1.5 hours and blamed him for his death. Tonight was his sister’s wedding, his was next month. We failed to protect him. I am so sorry. pic.twitter.com/3E341iE7sM
— Noura Erakat (@4noura) June 23, 2020

Killed for driving fast towards a checkpoint

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement that the alleged attacker was "shot and killed" at a checkpoint in Abu Dis, just east of Jerusalem.

He "drove his vehicle quickly towards the direction of a female border police officer who was injured lightly", Rosenfeld added.

Later in Abu Dis, Palestinians threw stones at soldiers who responded by firing tear gas and sponge-tipped ammunition, journalists at the scene said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Continuation of Israeli police killings

Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi called on the international community to take "concrete steps" against Israel over the death of Ahmad Erakat.

"Palestinian lives matter," she wrote in a statement, recalling last month's police killing of an autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem.

"It is time for the world to hold Israel to account and ensure that justice is done by Palestinian victims."

READ: Statement by @DrHananAshrawi on the cold-blooded murder of 28-year-old Ahmed Erekat. pic.twitter.com/HPEn9mcj9D
— PLO Department of Public Diplomacy & Policy (@PalestinePDP) June 23, 2020

Deadly police tactics

Tuesday's incident came nearly a month after a Palestinian man was killed in similar circumstances near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He was shot dead on May 29 after trying to ram a car into Israeli soldiers, none of whom were injured, police said at the time.

It also comes ahead of plans by Netanyahu to annex parts of the West Bank.

Netanyahu said the government would take steps towards annexing Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley from July 1, as part of a broader US peace plan.

The proposals have sparked widespread international criticism and warnings that such a move would spark violence.

SOURCE: AFP