Israel: IDF Troops Kill Unarmed Palestinian Near Jericho

Taken from Haaretz, Israel, 06/05/07
By Avi Issacharoff and The Associated Press

Israel Defense Forces troops shot and killed a Palestinian civilian Thursday evening in a case of suspected misconduct while on patrol in the Nabi Moussa area of the Judean Desert, the army said.

The army said soldiers patrolling a live-fire training zone in the desert between Jerusalem and Jericho saw three men and ordered them to halt.

When the men fled, the soldiers fired into the air and then at the men, killing one, the army said.

The slain man was identified as Aziz Hamed Matur, 30, a taxi driver who was on his way to Jericho from Bethlehem at the time of the shooting. He was not armed.

The two other Palestinians were arrested and brought in for police questioning. They are not suspected of planning terrorist activities but of illegally entering a firing zone. The three apparently entered the zone in order to gather metal pieces to sell.

GOC Central Command Yair Naveh has frozen activities of the army unit pending investigation of the incident, an exceptional step seemingly indicating the army has reason to believe the soldiers acted improperly.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. No Palestinian confirmation was immediately available.

On Wednesday, an IDF unit shot and killed Islamic Jihad militant Ramez Zanin on the border with the Gaza Strip. Another militant was injured in the incident.

Soldiers from the Givati Brigade engaged three militants they saw approaching the border fence in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The three fled, but the soldiers gave chase several hundred meters into the Gaza Strip.

During the incident, the militants detonated two bombs they had planted on the Palestinian side of the fence. There were no injuries among the IDF soldiers.

Also Wednesday, an IDF soldier was moderately wounded predawn while patrolling in the West Bank city of Jenin.

The soldier was wounded in the shoulder in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp. He was evacuated to Haemek Hospital