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Palestinian-Jordanian man shot dead at border crossing | Palestinian-Jordanian man shot dead at border crossing |
(about 7 hours later) | |
A Palestinian-Jordanian judge has been killed by Israeli soldiers as he crossed from Jordan into the West Bank. | |
The Israeli military said Raed Zaytar, 38, was shot after he attempted to grab a soldier's rifle and then strangle him at the Allenby Bridge crossing. | |
Originally from the West Bank town of Nablus, Mr Zaytar had been working as a magistrate in Jordan since 2009. | |
The Palestinian and Jordanian governments have strongly condemned the killing and demanded an investigation. | |
An Israeli diplomat was also summoned by Jordan's foreign minister. | |
'Peaceful' | 'Peaceful' |
Mr Zaytar had been on board a bus that transports people from the Jordanian side of the border to the West Bank with about 50 others on Monday morning when it was stopped by Israeli soldiers. | |
Describing Mr Zaytar as a "terrorist", the Israeli military said that after getting off the bus he "ran towards the soldiers yelling 'Allahu akbar', attempting to seize their weapons". | |
"The soldiers felt an immediate threat to their lives and fired toward his lower extremities. The suspect then began to strangle a soldier and the force resorted to firing again," it added. | |
Palestinian officials said Mr Zaytar had last visited the West Bank in 2011, while officials in Jordan said he had worked at a magistrate's court. | |
"We did not know that Raed was in the West Bank. I went to the court to check if he was working and I was told that he did not go to work today," his 70-year-old father, Alaa, himself a former judge, told AFP by telephone. "My son was peaceful and professional." | "We did not know that Raed was in the West Bank. I went to the court to check if he was working and I was told that he did not go to work today," his 70-year-old father, Alaa, himself a former judge, told AFP by telephone. "My son was peaceful and professional." |
He said he did not know what his son's business was in the West Bank. | He said he did not know what his son's business was in the West Bank. |
The Palestinian Authority said it vigorously condemned the "shooting at close range" of the judge and had demanded the formation of an international investigative committee. | |
Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Nasser Judeh meanwhile summoned Israel's charge d'affaires in Amman to express his strong condemnation of the shooting, which he said was "completely unacceptable" and required immediate investigation. | |
The Palestinian official in charge of border crossings, Nazmi Muhanna, said the other passengers on Mr Zaytar's bus were being questioned. | |
"We will verify everything," he told the AFP news agency. "There are no surveillance cameras there so we cannot get to the truth without the witnesses who were on that bus." | |
The border terminal, which is operated jointly by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, was closed for several hours following the incident. | |
The BBC's Yolande Knell, who is at the crossing, said the shooting was an unusual incident. | |
In a separate development on Monday, an Israeli court sentenced an Israeli-Arab man to 25 years in prison for a bomb attack on a bus in Tel Aviv that wounded 26 people. | In a separate development on Monday, an Israeli court sentenced an Israeli-Arab man to 25 years in prison for a bomb attack on a bus in Tel Aviv that wounded 26 people. |
Mohammed Mafarja, 19, pleaded guilty to charges included attempted murder in connection with the attack in November 2012, at the end of an eight-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. | Mohammed Mafarja, 19, pleaded guilty to charges included attempted murder in connection with the attack in November 2012, at the end of an eight-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. |
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