An Israeli Border Police officer shot and killed Sarah Hajuj, a 27-year-old Palestinian woman from the village of Bani Na’im in the Hebron District, at a checkpoint located in the Ibrahimi Mosque compound at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron on Friday, July 1.

According to an Israel Police press release, when Hajuj reached one of the checkpoints at the entrance to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, she aroused the suspicion of the police officers stationed there, so they took her into to a small side room for a full inspection. According the police report, once inside the room Hajuj unsuccessfully tried to stab a policewoman. In response, another police officer “responded quickly and carried out a precise and targeted shooting towards the terrorist until she was neutralized.” A photograph of the knife that the police allege Hajuj had been carrying was made available by the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit and published on Israeli media.

A shot from the video clip (see link below) reportedly documenting the moment when Sarah Hajuj was killed by Israeli forces in Hebron on July 1, 2016. (B’Tselem)

B’Tselem’s investigation of the incident and video footage captured by a Palestinian passerby cast doubt on the police claim that the lethal shooting was indeed “precise and targeted.” In fact, the combined material indicates that the Border Police officers could almost certainly have stopped Hajuj with non-lethal means, thereby rendering the shooting unjustified.

According to B’Tselem, Hajuj was on her way out of the Tomb of the Patriarchs when she was taken into the side room by police. Eyewitnesses told B’Tselem’s investigating team that sounds of a scuffle were heard from inside the room, possibly because a knife was found in Hajuj’s possession. The witnesses then saw the policewoman who was inspecting Hajuj suddenly spring from the entrance to the room together with another policeman; both were coughing and covering their faces with their hands. The policewoman, who was the second to flee from the room, was holding a receptacle of pepper spray. In photographs of Hajuj’s body, remnants of pepper spray – a substance that usually has a highly debilitating effect on people – appear on her face. Therefore, the argument that shooting to kill – 4 bullets were fired in rapid succession – was necessary and the only way of stopping Hajuj under those circumstances is untenable. There was clearly no justification for excessive gunfire when Hajuj no longer posed a threat.

According to B’Tselem, Sarah Hajuj was killed in circumstances similar to those in dozens of incidents that have occurred in recent months both in the West Bank and in Israel: security force personnel and civilians have shot and killed Palestinians even though danger – if and when it existed – could have been averted by non-lethal means. This open-fire policy has been broadly backed by senior politicians and high-ranking military commanders, granting immunity to individuals implementing it. Consequently B’Tselem maintains that the moral and legal liability for the death of Palestinians in such circumstances can justly be laid at the feet of these leaders.

Young Palestinian Woman Shot at Ariel Junction

On Tuesday, July 5, a 17 year old Palestinian girl was reportedly shot outside the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel, after she allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack. An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an Palestinian news agency that a Palestinian woman attempted to stab a soldier at a junction west of Ariel on Tuesday afternoon, when she was shot and detained by Israeli forces. No Israelis were injured in the incident, the spokesperson added. The woman was later identified as Jamileh Daoud Hasan Jaber, 17, from the town of az-Zawiya in the western part of Salfit. Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) spokeswoman Errab Foqoha told Ma’an that Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from the organization from reaching the scene and providing medical assistance, but that an Israeli ambulance was later seen taking the woman away. Foqoha added that Jaber appeared to be alive when she was removed from the scene of the incident.

Related:

B’Tselem report including video clip documenting the incident in Hebron on July 1, 2016