Israel not to charge cops over shooting Arab man

Israeli authorities on Tuesday decided that there would be no criminal charges against police officers who shot dead an Arab Israeli over allegedly knife attack late last year in northern Israel.

The Justice Ministry, overseeing the Police Investigations Unit, said in a statement on Tuesday that no criminal charges would be filed against the police officers involved in the death of the 22-year-old Kheir Hamdan, who was from an Arab village in Israel's northern Galilee region.

"There is not a drop of reasonable suspicion to accuse the officer who shot the suspect with anything criminal," the police probe body concluded in its report, according to the ministry's statement.

"He acted in the intensity of the moment in a complex situation and made a quick decision in an ongoing event that included life endangerment," the statement added.

Hamdan was shot as he approached a police car with a knife, said the police officers, who also recalled that the attacker tried to stab them.

Fearing for their lives, they said they first fired a warning shot up in the air, and had to shoot Hamdan following his non-compliance.

However, video footage widely circulated in the Israeli media outlets has no trace of the warning shot. The video shows Hamdan approaching the police car and stabbing it with what looks like a knife, and several policemen are seen rushing out of the car.

He then runs away from the vehicle when the policemen shot him at his upper torso. He died in the hospital later that day. The video also shows the police officers dragging the suspect to the car instead of calling for an ambulance.

The incident sent shockwaves into the Arab community, which constitutes 20 percent of Israel's population, as thousands protested against police brutality.

The demonstrations turned violent as the protesters burned tires, and hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces. A general strike was also announced throughout the Arab sector following Hamdan's death.

According to the Hebrew Walla news website, the police officer who shot Hamdan told the military police investigators that he only aimed at Hamdan's knife-holding hand, instead of his upper body.

"The bullet, unfortunately, hit the man in the waist and caused severe bleeding which ultimately led to his demise," the news website quoted him.

Also according to the report, the officers explained the reason why they took Hamdan away all by themselves instead of calling an ambulance was because the incident happened in an area where local community had tensions with the police.

According to Israeli police regulations, cops can only fire the killing shot after three steps: a vocal warning, then a warning shot in the air, and one shot at the suspect's feet.

Adalah, the legal organization advocating for the rights of Arabs in Israel, said on Tuesday that the decision is enabling the next murder of an Arab man by police forces.

"Even in this serious act of killing which was recorded, the investigation unit seems to find ways to back up the crime the police committed," the group said in a statement Tuesday. Endit