The Times of Israel reports: Top Israeli military officials on Saturday night rejected assertions that a soldier who shot an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the head was right to do so as he feared the man could be wearing an explosives vest, saying an officer had checked the assailant minutes earlier and confirmed that he was not.
The statements could pull the rug from under the soldier’s main line of defense after Thursday’s fatal incident. The soldier’s attorney has claimed he feared the assailant had an explosive vest hidden under his shirt and could have used it to kill the people surrounding him.
But an IDF probe has shown that an officer confirmed that the assailant was no longer a threat immediately after he was first shot, officials told Ynet news.
The soldier arrived on the scene only several minutes later, when the situation was already under control. He did not confer with his superiors before abruptly shooting dead the Palestinian man as he lay on the ground, the army’s investigation indicated.
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