Israel rights groups: Dozens of Palestinian detainees abused

An Israeli reservist officer was killed by friendly fire in the West Bank on Wednesday after soldiers opened fire to disarm an alleged Palestinian attacker.

The assailant, who has been identified as 26-year-old Mamduh Amro was shot and wounded at the scene, but Cpt Gelman was critically injured and succumbed to his wounds two hours after the attack.

‘An assailant attempted to stab an Israeli at the Gush Etzion junction, ‘ an army statement said.

The Etzion bloc of Israeli settlements, in the southern West Bank between Bethlehem and the flashpoint city of Hebron, has been a focal point of the unrest.

Capt Gelman was taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem in a critical condition, but he succumbed to his wounds two hours after the attack.

He added that Iran will also offer $30,000 and a montly stipend to every family whose home has been demolished by Israeli forces because of a family member’s participation in the street violence in Israel.

Wednesday’s incident began when a soldier stationed at Gush Etzion Junction saw a Palestinian armed with a knife charging at Capt Gelman, an Israeli military spokesperson told the Jerusalem Post.

B’Tselem and HaMoked presented accounts by 116 Palestinian detainees in a report detailing conditions at the Shikma interrogation facility, run by the Israeli Shin Bet internal security agency.

In the past five months, Israeli security forces have killed at least 168 Palestinians, 111 of whom Israel says were assailants, while most others were shot dead during violent anti-Israeli protests.

It added that they were exposed to extremes of heat or cold, bound to a chair and denied access to a shower for long periods. They were shouted at and spat on, deprived of sleep and were provided little, substandard food, the report said.

The money pledged is in addition to the monthly aid paid since 1987 by an Iranian institution to families of Palestinians killed in the violence, he said.

Israeli officials say such demolitions could deter other Palestinians from launching attacks in a campaign that has killed 28 Israelis and a USA citizen since October.

The Shin Bet said it would not comment on the report, which it dubbed “twisted”.