Israel’s military has said it is dismissing two officers and would reprimand a battalion commander over the death of a Palestinian-American at a West Bank checkpoint after he was stopped by Israeli troops.
The death of Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, who had lived in Milwaukee before retiring to his native village of Jiljilya, resulted from “a moral failure and poor decision-making”, it added.
The 78-year-old had been handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded for between 20 minutes and an hour, before his body was discovered by local residents and others detained in the 12 January raid after the soldiers left.
“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.”
After an autopsy found he died from “stress-induced sudden cardiac arrest stemming from external violence”, a US embassy spokesperson 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.
Two members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation asked US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Monday to investigate whether the soldiers involved used equipment procured with American aid.
“We strongly support human rights and the rule of law as the foundation of United States foreign policy,” US senator Tammy Baldwin and representative Gwen Moore wrote. “As a Palestinian American, Mr As’ad deserves the full protections afforded US citizens living abroad and his family deserves answers.”
The 78-year-old’s US citizenship means that his case has received more international attention than most civilian deaths related to Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian territories. In 2021, security forces killed 41 Palestinians in the West Bank who were not involved in attacking or allegedly attacking Israelis, according to the human rights group B’Tselem.
As’ad was born in Jiljilya but spent about 40 years in the US. He became a US citizen before he returned to his home village in 2009 to retire with his wife, Nazmia, his nephew told the Associated Press.
US state department officials have said they’re seeking clarification about the events leading up to As’ad’s death.
State department spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday that he hadn’t seen the request from Baldwin and Moore and the agency hasn’t seen a final report from Israeli officials.
“We continue to support an investigation that is thorough and comprehensive into the circumstances of the incident and we welcome receiving additional information as soon as possible,” Price said.
Omar As’ad’s nephew and his son, Hane Assad, both described Omar as a philanthropist who was the life of the party. Hane Assad told the AP his father would often hand out money to the poor. “He just loved everybody, no matter what race you were, what culture you came from,” he said. “He just saw you as a human being.”
He was coming home from playing cards with a cousin when the soldiers stopped him, Assad Assad said.
“He was very weak,” Hane Assad said. “He walked with a cane. It takes him five minutes to get to the car, the way he walks. He doesn’t have the power of 30 soldiers … The military said ‘we left and he was fine.’ It doesn’t make sense.”
“Every time we got stopped Dad would say ‘whatever they ask for give it to them. Just be calm.’ Plenty of times we got pulled over and I never saw him fight,” Hane Assad said. “I can’t believe they did that to my Dad. Almost an 80-year-old man. All the soldiers there couldn’t handle him? This is uncalled for. You don’t treat no elderly person like that.”
With Associated Press and Reuters
