The Defense Ministry will compensate the circle of relatives of an elderly Palestinian-American man who suffered an attack on the center after being bound, gagged and abandoned at a construction site in the dead of winter by Israeli soldiers.
Israel has agreed to pay the circle of relatives of Omar As’ad, 78, about NIS 500,000 ($140,000) in payment for his death, a Defense Ministry spokesman told The Times of Israel, confirming a Friday report via public broadcaster Kan.
In return, “the parties agreed to dismiss the complaint [about the death] filed with the court opposed to the state,” the spokesman said.
“At the same time and in light of the exclusive cases of this unfortunate event, it was agreed in court that the circle of relatives would obtain NIS 500,000,” the spokesperson said.
Senior Israeli officials called the death a “serious ethical violation,” possibly explaining why Jerusalem agreed to make an exception by accepting payment.
Israel had faced intense pressure from the United States to investigate the death and bring the culprits to justice, and As’ad also had American citizenship.
An Israel Defense Forces investigation into the Jan. 12 incident called As’ad’s death an “ethical failure” by the foot soldiers involved. Two officials were discarded and a third officially censored. A thief investigation is also ongoing.
As’ad’s death has provoked a strong backlash from the Biden administration, with the State Department emphasizing in multiple statements on the issue that it takes protecting its citizens very seriously.
Even after the IDF’s internal investigation, the U. S. The U. S. Army went on to call for a “thorough investigation of criminals” and the U. S. ambassador went on to call for a “thorough investigation of criminals. “U. S. Secretary of State Tom Nestes met with IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi to provide an update on the investigation.
Kohavi echoed the IDF’s earlier statement and told Nides that “this is a serious ethical incident that is contrary to IDF values. “
An organization of Democratic lawmakers also weighed in on As’ad’s death, an investigation that was not easy and expressed broader fear about Israeli army practices in the West Bank.
According to the IDF’s initial investigation, As’ad arrested infantrymen from the Netzah Yehuda battalion who set up a makeshift checkpoint in the central West Bank village of Jiljilya, blocking cars and checking the identity documents of others inside.
The investigation revealed that As’ad, who refused to identify himself when asked and yelled at the infantrymen, beat the infantrymen, who then tied his hands with zippered ties.
He was then moved to a nearby structure site, where he was left on the ground on the near-freezing January night.
In order to prevent him from calling and informing others about the way of life of the checkpoint, the infantrymen also gagged him, first with his hands, and then tied a strip of cloth over his mouth for a short time, the probe found.
Three other Palestinians were taken to the same building. When Netzah Yehuda’s infantrymen refilled the checkpoint about an hour later, they untied the 4 Palestinians and let them go, according to the investigation.
At that point, As’ad no longer responds. Infantrymen left it on the ground at the site of the structure. They later told army investigators they thought he was sleeping.
As’ad, a U. S. citizen who had lived in the U. S. He was found dead hours later with a tie still around one of his hands and a blindfold.
An autopsy conducted by the Palestinian Authority and reviewed by the IDF led us to believe that he died of a stress-induced attack on the center, caused by being knocked to the ground, bound and gagged. -surgical center and was in poor health, according to his family.
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