Palestinian carrying pipe bomb shot at Bekaot checkpoint

Report states that Palestinian man carrying knife and explosives got out of a taxi and approached the checkpoint while yelling "Allahu Akbar."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Bekaot (photo credit: AP)
Bekaot
(photo credit: AP)
A Palestinian was shot and killed at the Bekaot checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley, south of Beit She’an, after refusing to heed calls to stop, reported Army radio on Saturday.
An initial report said the man carried a pipe bomb on his body.  Later reports indicated a knife and another explosive charge the size of a grenade were also found.
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According to eyewitnesses, the Palestinian got out of a taxi and approached the checkpoint while yelling "Allahu Akbar."  In response, the soldiers opened fire at him, the report said.
This is the second incident in the past week that IDF soldiers have had to open fire at the Bekaot checkpoint.
On Sunday IDF soldiers shot Muhammad Dharaghma, a 21-year-old Palestinian who arrived at the Bekaot Checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley, south of Beit She’an, and did not heed a soldier’s call to stop. 
The Palestinian was unarmed but IDF sources said that he was carrying a bottle in his hand and that the soldier later told his commanders that he felt threatened.
“After the Palestinian didn’t stop and the soldier felt threatened he opened fire,” one officer explained.
After the soldier shot Dharaghma in the thigh, two other soldiers ran to the scene and, thinking that their friend was under attack, they also shot him. A total of eight rounds were shot by the soldiers who were standing behind protection walls, according to the initial IDF investigation. He was pronounced dead at the checkpoint.
Sunday’s shooting came a day after Palestinian woman was reported to have died of injuries she sustained from inhaling tear gas during an anti-security barrier demonstration near the West Bank town of Bil’in.
Israel came under sharp criticism for both killings, which are currently under investigation.
IDF sources said that the military was studying Sunday’s shooting to determine whether the soldier operated in accordance with fire regulations and whether his life was genuinely threatened.