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RAMALLAH: A Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli police in the early hours of Saturday at the entrance of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
Palestinian and Israeli sources disputed the circumstances that led to the killing of Mohammed Al-Osaibi, 26, an ethnic Bedouin Israeli citizen from the Negev region.
Talab Al-Sanee, a former Israeli lawmaker and the representative of Bedouin Arab villages of the Negev, told Arab News that Al-Osaibi was killed when he tried to intervene after seeing Israeli police and border guards assaulting a young Palestinian woman and trying to remove her from the mosque’s courtyards.
Israeli police said the man grabbed a gun from a police officer who had stopped him for questioning and managed to fire two shots before police killed him. Each side has vehemently rejected the other’s version.
“The police claim that he tried to snatch someone’s weapon is a lie and slander. The police, with their cameras, document everything big and small, and I challenge the police to show the video documenting the attempt to snatch a weapon, as they claim,” Al-Sanee, who is representing Al-Osaibi’s case, told Arab News.
“This heinous crime is a wake-up call and a natural result of the unbridled racist incitement against the Arab masses. What is required is the dismissal of Itamar Ben-Gvir, the racist minister of Israel’s national security, the biggest instigator against the Arab masses,” he said.
He called for the establishment of an independent investigation committee headed by a judge, and the strengthening of Muslim presence at Al-Aqsa.
He said some elements in the civil movement against the government “plan to form armed militias that obey the orders of the fascist Bin-Gvir.”
A Jerusalem police statement said the suspect was alone and had been stopped for questioning after the closing time of Al-Aqsa. “At some point, Al-Osaibi suddenly attacked one of the police officers who asked the suspect to come outside and tried to grab the secured gun on the policeman’s body. Al-Osaibi managed to take the weapon and fire two bullets from it,” it claimed.
The police officer “physically struggled with him” before a shot was fired at the man “and he was neutralized on the spot,” it said.
Videos shared on social media captured the sound of at least 11 gunshots in quick succession.
Al-Osaibi’s family has demanded that police release security footage of the incident to prove “the allegations that their son pulled a soldier’s weapon,” but the police said there was no video of the incident.
A large group of Muslims staged a mass prayer outside the holy site after the incident, video from the scene showed.
Local authorities in Al-Osaibi’s native region of Rahat in Negev called for a general strike on Sunday in protest.
Palestinian presidency spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned in a statement against what he described as “the dangerous escalation by the Israeli occupation authorities,” calling the Israeli version of the incident “fabricated.”
He said the Israeli escalation at Al-Aqsa Mosque could lead to an explosion of anger.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis.
Ayman Odeh, an Israeli-Arab parliamentarian, denounced the “cold-blooded murder” of Al-Osaibi and called it part of the occupation’s systematic anti-Palestinian policy. It warned that the current far-right government would escalate these crimes to set fire to the region to escape from its internal crises.
The Islamic Jihad Movement called the killing “a dangerous, aggressive escalation aimed at terrorizing worshipers,” while the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine warned of “severe repercussions.”
Meanwhile, the Returning to the Temple Mount group has announced a financial reward for those who manage to slaughter the Passover offerings inside Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“Financial compensation for every settler who can slaughter the Jewish Passover sacrifice inside Al-Aqsa courtyards, even if he tried and was stopped,” read a message on the group’s Facebook page.
“This is the time to sacrifice for Passover. If you succeed the prize is 20,000 shekels ($5,555). If you get arrested with a goat inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, 2,500 shekels ($694),” it said.
Hamas warned Israel following the settlers’ threat.
Its spokesman for Jerusalem, Mohammed Hamada, said: “Our Palestinian people will not remain silent in the face of settlers’ threats to slaughter sacrifices in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“The occupation must know very well that its desecration of the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque will be met with a reaction.”
On Wednesday evening, 15 rabbis sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir requesting that settlers be allowed to slaughter this year’s Passover offerings on the “Temple Mount”, or Al-Aqsa Mosque.