Brother and sister slain at checkpoint were executed, Palestinians say

Qalandiya checkpoint after two Palestinian siblings were slain by Israeli forces on 27 April.
Shadi Hatem APA images
Israeli forces killed a young woman and her 16-year-old brother at a military checkpoint on Wednesday and denied emergency medics access to the siblings.

Israel claimed the pair were killed during an attempted attack on soldiers, but eyewitnesses disputed this version of events.

Police told the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz that “the two were ordered to stop several times but continued to approach officers and guards stationed at a drive-through checkpoint not intended for pedestrians.”

“According to the police, as the two approached, the woman’s hand was buried inside her bag and [the boy’s] hand was behind his back. The two eventually heeded the police’s call, stopping a short distance from the officers and turning away, but the woman then spun back around and pulled out the knife, throwing it directly at one of the officers. Police and security guards then shot the two,” the paper added.

In a mobile phone video taken at the scene, an eyewitness describes the shooting of the boy after the slaying of the woman:

(Video on link)

were executed, Palestinians say

Maureen Clare Murphy Rights and Accountability 27 April 2016

Qalandiya checkpoint after two Palestinian siblings were slain by Israeli forces on 27 April.
Shadi Hatem APA images
Israeli forces killed a young woman and her 16-year-old brother at a military checkpoint on Wednesday and denied emergency medics access to the siblings.

Israel claimed the pair were killed during an attempted attack on soldiers, but eyewitnesses disputed this version of events.

Police told the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz that “the two were ordered to stop several times but continued to approach officers and guards stationed at a drive-through checkpoint not intended for pedestrians.”

“According to the police, as the two approached, the woman’s hand was buried inside her bag and [the boy’s] hand was behind his back. The two eventually heeded the police’s call, stopping a short distance from the officers and turning away, but the woman then spun back around and pulled out the knife, throwing it directly at one of the officers. Police and security guards then shot the two,” the paper added.

In a mobile phone video taken at the scene, an eyewitness describes the shooting of the boy after the slaying of the woman:



“He touched the woman and then they shot him,” the eyewitness says, as additional shots ring out.

Israeli police released a photo of two knives it said were carried by the woman, and a switchblade carried by her brother. The knives appear clean and no Israelis were reported injured during the incident.

Indications of execution

Statements made by an Israeli spokesperson and eyewitness testimony suggest that the siblings, Maram Salih Hassan Abu Ismail, a 23-year-old mother of two small children, reportedly five months pregnant, and Ibrahim Salih Hassan Taha, may have been executed.



Israeli army spokesperson Peter Lerner tweeted that Abu Ismail was “shot by Border Police before she could carry out the attack,” indicating that the woman didn’t pose any immediate threat to anyone’s life when she was killed.



Witnesses told the Ma’an News Agency that “the two were apparently unable to understand Israeli officers yelling in Hebrew, and stopped walking.”



“Witnesses said it appeared that Ibrahim attempted to grab his sister’s hand and move away from the officers, when they opened fire on her. Maram fell to the ground and when Ibrahim attempted to aid her, he was shot in his tracks,” Ma’an added.



“[Maram] had reportedly obtained a permit from the Israeli authorities to enter Jerusalem for the first time when she was crossing on Wednesday,” the agency stated.



Eyewitnesses told Palestinian media that Israeli forces fired a barrage of bullets at the pair – “more than 15 rounds into the woman’s body, confirming her death,” the Ma’an News Agency reported.



A witness named Ahmad Taha told Ma’an that “Israeli officers approached the two after they had been shot and on the ground before opening fire on them again ‘to ensure that they were dead,’ adding that the officers ‘could have moved the two away without opening fire.’”



The man alleged that the knives police said were carried by Maram and Ibrahim were planted.

Medical care denied

The Palestine Red Crescent Society told Ma’an that Israeli forces denied medics access to the woman and child.

Video from the scene shows Israeli forces turning away a Palestine Red Crescent medic and preventing a cameraman from filming.



A brother of Maram and Ismail told Haaretz that he doesn’t believe his sister intended to carry out an attack, saying that she was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when she was shot dead.



“We have no details about what transpired and no one briefed us, but I don’t believe this whole terrorist attack story,” Hassan Taha said.

“She was probably lost, or didn’t understand what was going on at the roadblock, and the soldiers shot her and my brother,” he added.



An uncle of the siblings told media that the pair were killed “in cold blood.”



Spokespersons with the Palestinian factions condemned the slayings, with Islamic Jihad calling the deaths an “execution” and Hamas stating that the “crime would not go without punishment.”



More than 130 Palestinians have been shot dead in the course of what Israel claims were attacks or attempted attacks since the beginning October last year, when direct confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli forces surged. Dozens more were shot dead during protests.



Approximately 30 Israelis were killed during that same period.



Human rights groups have condemned the use of lethal violence as a matter of first resort, saying it amounts to an unofficial shoot-to-kill policy encouraged by Israel’s top leadership.

Executioner celebrated

An Israeli soldier caught on video executing a wounded Palestinian man in late March has become a national hero in the country and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for leniency as he faces manslaughter charges.



https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/brother-and-sister-slain-checkpoint-were-executed-palestinians-say

What nationality were the "witnesses"?

The video shows nothing, so it's impossible to say what happened.

Translation: "Do you believe that a mother of two who is five months pregnant would go with her brother to implement a terror attack? Erekat condemning Maryam and Ibrahim's execution."

Ma'an quotes "witnesses" saying that the pair had no knife and that the Israeli forces planted the two kitchen knives and switchblade afterwards. They further claim that the two were innocently walking in the car lanes at the checkpoint.

Haaretz reported the incident this way:

 Before being shot, the two were ordered to stop several times but continued to approach officers and guards stationed at a drive-through checkpoint not intended for pedestrians.
According to the police, as the two approached, the woman's hand was buried inside her bag and his hand was behind his back. The two eventually heeded the police's call, stopping a short distance from the officers and turning away, but the woman then spun back around and pulled out the knife, throwing it directly at one of the officers. Police and security guards then shot the two.
The police found another knife identical to the one she was carrying, while a switchblade was found on the her brother's body.

So yet again a falsified accusation is made, that has zero credibility.
Again imagine if this was a poster trying to make out Anders brevik or Bin Laden were victims and not hateful terrorists.
Most people would be appalled.
Whilst I have no problem with genuine cases of crimes committed by some of the IDF and back Israel to act accordingly, but its really so disgusting. To the point this is being repeated so many times. In order like I say to make out that terrorists are in some way victims, for dying whilst trying to murder.
Its these countless lies posted that continually further incite more and more to take up and the sword and thus die doing so.
When are people going to check what they post up as a claim first? Based on their prejudged view of Israel. Which is set as default to guilty for them.