Palestinian beaten to death in Nablus

By Anees Barghouthi

Nablus, Palestine

A Palestinian man was beaten to death by Palestinian security forces on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in last week’s murder of two security personnel during an operation.

Ahmed Halaweh was arrested for allegedly masterminding the fatal shooting of two Palestinian policemen in the West Bank city of Nablus, governor Akram al-Rajoub said.

Al-Rajoub said the suspect was taken to the Juneid prison in northern West Bank.

When the suspect arrived at prison, al-Rajoub said, he started “to shout and threaten security forces, who began to attack him”.

Al-Rajoub noted that some security forces had fired into the air in a desperate attempt to protect him but Halaweh died later with injuries.

Last week, two policemen were killed during an operation targeting a gang in Nablus.

In response, security forces began a clampdown in the old town of Nablus, which resulted in the death of three gang members and the arrest of three others.

Tuesday’s killing has sparked a storm of condemnations in the West Bank.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah ordered the formation of a panel to investigate Halaweh’s killing.

In a statement, Palestinian group Hamas said Halaweh’s death reflects what it said a new police of “field executions” by Palestinian Authority-affiliated security forces.

“These crimes show the bloody nature of the Palestinian Authority’s security services,” it said.

Several other groups and figures, in separate statements, called for an immediate investigation into the killing.