Ramallah: An official request by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been submitted calling on the US to put pressure on Israel to end its practice of extrajudicial executions.
The call comes after Israeli occupation soldiers gunned down 38-year-old Eyad Zakaria Hamed last week in front of his home in the town of Silwad, just north of Ramallah.
An Israeli investigation into the killing showed that Hamed did not pose a threat to the soldiers involved in the shooting. He was unarmed at the time of his murder.
The soldier was questioned and released to his unit, an ultra-orthodox Jewish battalion called Netzah Yehuda.
International legal and human rights organisations have documented Israel’s practice of extrajudicial executions among other crimes contrary to international law.
In March, an Israeli rights group has released a video showing the moment an Israeli soldier appears to shoot dead a wounded Palestinian in Hebron minutes after he had stabbed another soldier.
In the graphic footage, the injured Palestinian, who has already been shot once, was seen still moving. After almost two minutes, an Israeli soldier approaches him, aims his weapon at his head and shoots him, apparently killing him.
Later footage shows him lying motionless with blood coming from his head.
The video appears to confirm in this instance repeated claims by Palestinians and human rights groups in recent months that Israeli security forces have shot and killed suspected attackers who pose no threat.
Since March, there have been dozens of Palestinians shot and killed in similar circumstances. Some Palestinians say Israel often plants weapons on Palestinians after they have been killed claiming they have been attacked.
