Israeli Army Dismisses Two Officers over Death of Elderly Palestinian

Israeli soldiers walk during clashes with Palestinians in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Israeli soldiers walk during clashes with Palestinians in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
TT
20

Israeli Army Dismisses Two Officers over Death of Elderly Palestinian

Israeli soldiers walk during clashes with Palestinians in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Israeli soldiers walk during clashes with Palestinians in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

Israel's military said on Monday it was dismissing two officers and would reprimand a battalion commander over the death of an elderly Palestinian earlier this month that it said resulted from "a moral failure and poor decision-making."

Omar Abdalmajeed As'ad, 78, who was also a US national, was found dead after being detained by Israeli troops in Jiljilya village in the occupied West Bank on Jan. 12. A Palestinian autopsy found As'ad, who had pre-existing heart conditions, had suffered sudden cardiac arrest caused by the stress of being manhandled.

The military at the time said As'ad was alive when the soldiers left him, Reuters reported.

In a summary of its investigation on Monday, the military said it found that As'ad had refused to cooperate with troops operating in the area and that "his hands were tied and he was gagged for a short time."

After being detained for half an hour, As'ad and three others were released.

"The soldiers did not identify signs of distress or other suspicious signs concerning As'ad’s health. The soldiers assessed that As'ad was asleep and did not try to wake him," according the military statement.

"The investigation concluded that the incident was a grave and unfortunate event, resulting from a moral failure and poor decision-making on the part of the soldiers," it said.

A core value of the Israeli military - to protect human life - had been violated, it said.

"It was further determined that there was no use of violence during the incident apart from when Assad was apprehended after refusing to cooperate," it said. "The soldiers failed in their obligations by leaving Assad lying on the floor without the required treatment and without reporting the incident back to their commanders."

After the autopsy, a US embassy spokesman in Jerusalem said it was "deeply saddened" by As'ad's death and it supported "a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident."

Palestinian leaders have called for the soldiers involved to be prosecuted in an international court.

As'ad was a former Milwaukee, Wisconsin, resident who lived in the United States for decades and returned to the West Bank 10 years ago, his brother told Reuters.

Israeli military police were carrying out their own criminal investigation, whose findings will be submitted to the Military Advocate Corps for a legal review and determinations, the military said.



Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.