Israeli soldiers shoot and kill Palestinian youth fleeing them and posing no danger to anyone in al-Mughayir. Military falsely claims he hurled a Molotov cocktail
12 January 2023
On Tuesday, 29 November 2022, at around 3:30 P.M., soldiers and Civil Administration officials came to the area of al-Kiba, which lies east of the village of al-Mughayir in Ramallah District, and served stop-work orders for three structures. About 10 teens threw stones at them, and the forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters and live rounds at them and then left the area and drove towards the village. No one was hurt.
At the same time, about 20 young men gathered near a mosque and used tires and rocks to block a dirt road leading out of the village, towards which the forces were advancing. When the military jeeps reached the mosque on their way to the dirt road, the young men threw stones at them. The soldiers hurled a stun grenade at the men and then turned onto the dirt road, but had to double back as it was blocked. The young men threw stones at them again and then fled.
B’Tselem’s investigation indicates that at that point, one of the young men, Raed Na’asan (21), was standing at his front gate about 30 meters away from the convoy of jeeps. A soldier got out of the first jeep and fired two shots at him. Na’asan started running away after the first shot, but the second hit him in the chest. He managed to run several dozen meters before he collapsed and was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead a few hours later.
The IDF Spokesperson said that Na’asan was shot after hurling a Molotov cocktail at the soldiers. However, B’Tselem’s investigation and video footage of the incident clearly show this claim is divorced from reality. No one – Na’asan included – hurled Molotov cocktails at the soldiers, and Na’asan was shot while running away.
U.N. (18) spoke about Na’asan’s killing in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad:
On Tuesday, 29 November 2022, at around 4:00 P.M., I was on my way home from work on public transport. When we reached the area of the eastern mosque, I saw about 15 to 20 young guys standing in the mosque’s yard. Raed Na’asan was among them. I got off and asked them why they were standing there. They told me the military and Civil Administration were delivering stop-work orders in the village, and they were waiting for the jeeps to pass by so they could throw stones at them. Raed suggested I join in.
About 15 minutes later, I saw the jeeps heading towards the mosque. A lot of stones were thrown at them jeeps. One of the jeeps chased Raed, but he managed to get away. Then the jeeps turned right and drove on a few dozen meters, but then they came back, I don’t know why. Maybe there were obstacles along that route.
The jeeps stopped in front of the mosque. At first, the young guys threw stones at them again, but then they ran away. I was still in the area, 20 meters away from the first jeep. Raed was standing across from me, on the other side of the road, and the jeep was about 30 meters away from him. Whoever was in the passenger’s seat, a soldier or an officer, got out of the jeep, pointed his weapon at Raed and fired two shots at him. I started running away, but then I heard Raed shout and saw that he was hurt. I was the first person to reach him and catch him before he fell down. I took him with some other guys to the village center and we shouted for help. Two paramedics from the village ran after us. In the village center, we put Raed in a car belonging to a resident. One of the paramedics, Mujahed Abu’ Alia, got into the car with several other guys and went with him.
After Raed was taken away, we saw the military jeeps passing us on their way out of the village. The young guys threw stones at them again, but the soldiers didn’t react and continued driving towards the Allon Road. I went with some of the guys to Turmusaya, because we gathered that’s where Raed had been taken. When we got there, we were told he was in serious condition and had been transferred to al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah, so we went there. At 5:30 P.M., they announced he’d been martyred.
