The second Palestinian that the Israeli military killed after a stabbing attack against soldiers in March was 'executed' while prone, an Israeli rights group said on Monday.
The left-leaning B''Tselem group, which documents Israeli violations in the West Bank, said in a statement that an Israeli soldier shot Palestinian attacker Ramzi al-Qasrawi in the head while he lay on the ground with injuries from a prior gunshot, according to two Palestinian eyewitnesses, Nur Abu ‘Eishah and Amani Abu ‘Eishah.
Another Israeli soldier, Sgt. Elor Azaria, is on trial for the alleged killing of Qasrawi''s fellow attacker, Abdel Fatal al-Sharif, after footage showed him cocking his gun and shooting Sharif in the head while he laid prone on the floor following the attack in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The incident divided the Israeli public and the country''s political elite, with ultranationalist and far-right Israelis protesting against the government and military''s decision to allow Azaria to be prosecuted, alleging that the soldier was doing his duty.
The Israeli military denied B''Tselem''s claims and the accounts of the two eyewitnesses, saying that the soldier fired the fatal shots as Qasrawi carried out his attack.
'The claims by the B''Tselem organization are inconsistent with the findings of the operational investigation and conflict with the information the IDF has about this incident,' the army said in a statement.
'The shots fired at the terrorist were carried out in order to eliminate the threat while he was attacking the soldiers with a knife.'
The new allegation comes after the Israeli military lifted travel restrictions on the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron, allowing them to take testimonies from eyewitnesses.
Sarit Michaeli, spokesperson for B''Tselem, told Newsweek that the two eyewitnesses are volunteers for the group and had filmed 'sections' of the incident involving Qasrawi, but had not captured the moment an Israeli soldier killed him.
She says that the Israeli military police 'contacted one of them at least' and will meet with at least one of the eyewitnesses to have their version of events checked by the authorities. The eyewitnesses are adamant about what happened and are willing to continue with their testimonies despite the threat of prosecution if they are caught lying, Michaeli adds.
'We are convinced that they have it because we know that virtually every meter of Hebron city center is covered with military security cameras,' she says. 'The question is whether they will release it.'
Israeli authorities have released many clips of attacks by Palestinians against Israeli authorities but in some cases they have withheld the footage. She says that the Israeli authorities have the ability to confirm or deny the eyewitness accounts with the CCTV footage as both men 'are describing a particular sequence.'
According to Michaeli, the eyewitnesses allege that the sequence proceeded as follows: two Palestinians attack a soldier; a soldier shoots Qasrawi; Sharif runs away; an Israeli soldier runs after Sharif and shoots him before coming back to shoot the first assailant Qasrawi while he lay on the floor.
The Israeli military has an open-fire policy that allows soldiers to fire on assailants if they pose mortal danger. Michaeli says that B''Tselem''s interpretation is that 'if [an attacker] is on the floor, that does not mean you are entitled to continue shooting to kill.'
As the trial of Azaria continues, more details have started to emerge about the incident. The IDF''s main investigator charged last week that an ambulance driver who had arrived at
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