W. Bank: IDF kills Israeli who fails to stop at checkpoint

Soldiers erect barrier after receiving report of suspicious car traveling south of Hebron, open fire when driver refuses to stop; Otniel resident killed, three injured.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF
West Bank security fence barrier wall settlement 311 (R) (photo credit: Reuters)
West Bank security fence barrier wall settlement 311 (R)
(photo credit: Reuters)
IDF soldiers killed a resident of the Otniel settlement in the West Bank on Friday after mistaking him for a Palestinian terrorist, the army and settler leaders said.
Troops manning a checkpoint near Hebron opened fire on the settler's car because it was driving "fast and in a suspicious way and (they) saw a threat to their lives", a military spokesman said.
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Two other people in the car were wounded in the shooting, the spokesman said. An IDF soldier was also injured when he was accidentally hit by a truck passing the scene.
The man who was killed was among the founders of the nearby Otniel settlement, its spokesman, Yehuda Glick, told Army Radio. Glick said that the settler and the two others in his car were driving to early morning prayers in Hebron.
Initial investigations revealed that the soldiers had erected a roadblock after receiving report of a suspicious car traveling down Route 60. They began firing at the car when it tried to drive through the checkpoint and did not heed their calls to stop.
Paramedics evacuated the injured passengers to the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem.