IDF soldiers who were carrying out an operation to apprehend a violent Palestinian Authority instigator came under
Soldiers said the wounded man had charged at them, tried to take a soldier's gun and yelled, "Allah hu akbar!"
a rock-throwing barrage, which also included at least one tear-gas grenade, in the village of Na'alin in the early hours of Monday morning. During the effort to capture the wanted man, Aked Srur, at his home, his brother Awad was shot and seriously injured by a rubber bullet.
A preliminary IDF investigation into the incident indicates that the soldier who shot Awad was justified in opening fire. Soldiers said the wounded man had charged at them, tried to take a soldier's gun and yelled, "Allah hu akbar!" - a slogan often used by attacking Arab terrorists. The army added that Awad refused the soldiers' offers of first aid and shut himself in a room in his house.
Palestinian Authority sources claim that Awad is mentally ill. Conflicting reports from neighbors and family indicate that he was either not interfering at all with the IDF operation or he was attempting to prevent the soldiers from entering the house in which the incident occurred. PA medics said that Awad was sent to the intensive care unit of the hospital in Ramallah.
In reaction to the incident, PA legislator Mustafa Barghouti called for Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whom he holds responsible for the shooting, to be tried before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The Yesh Din pro-PA legal aid organization called on the army to launch a more complete investigation of the soldier's actions in Na'alin.
Na'alin, an Arab village located east of the Jewish city of Modiin and adjacent to Modiin Illit, has been the scene of repeated violent and non-violent protests against the security barrier being erected nearby.
In related news, three wanted terrorists were apprehended by IDF forces on Monday night. They were captured in the Hevron and Bethlehem regions and handed over to General Security Services (GSS) for questioning.