The Palestinian Authority on Monday called for the formation of an international committee to investigate the killing of three Palestinians in Qalandia refugee camp.If killing in a police action warrants an international inquiry, then I suppose the PA will be happy to volunteer for such an inquiry itself:
PA spokesman Ihab Bsaiso told Ma'an that the international community has to put more pressure on Israel to stop violating the rights of the Palestinian people.
"The international community should not stay silent about the Israeli crimes against our people, and an inquiry committee should be formatted to investigate what happened in Qalandia refugee camp," the PA official said.
The Israeli government acts in a reckless manner without accountability, and the international community must take a strict position to stop these violations, Bsaiso said.
Palestinian security forces killed a man in a Nablus-area refugee camp late Tuesday, officials and witnesses said.Sounds like they acted in a "reckless manner without accountability," doesn't it?
Amjad Odeh, 37, died in what Palestinian officials described as an exchange of fire between the security forces and a wanted man in Askar refugee camp.
Odeh was taken to Rafidia hospital were he was pronounced dead. There were reports of other injuries.
Witnesses told Ma’an that dozens of Palestinians attacked security forces with rocks after the incident.
In Al-Fara refugee camp, angry residents managed to shut off the main street connecting Nablus and Tubas and set tires on fire to protest the shooting.
But the PA - the same PA that says Israel acts irresponsibly - claims that they entered the camp to arrest Odeh on suspicion of having illegal arms. They were surprised when they were fired upon, and when stones were thrown at them. They say that they fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd. And they said that they were surprised that anyone was killed by their bullets.
Which means they are saying pretty much what the Israeli Border Police said yesterday - except that they weren't attacked by hundreds of people with Molotov cocktails and 50 lb. boulders being dropped from the roofs nearby.
Residents in Nablus are no happier with the PA than they were with Israel, though.
Here's video of the man after he was fatally shot (warning: graphic)
Here are angry Arabs destroying what is evidently a PA security car:
And here are some fires set by Nablus residents tonight:
UPDATE: I assumed the man killed was the man who was wanted; he wasn't. Headline changed.