Killing of Sa'ad Muhammad Youssef al-Atrash

According to the interview given by his mother he left his phone and ID at home and fifteen minutes later he became a "martyr". According to Amnesty's report, which is based on witness testimonies, the killing unfolded as follows. On October 26, al-Atrash attempted to retrieve an ID card at an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint's request. As he reached into his pocket to grab his card another soldier standing behind him shot him on his right side. He was then shot six or seven times. He bled profusely as he lay on the ground for about 40 minutes while the soldiers did not provide medical treatment. The female witness who watched the situation from her balcony also reported seeing soldiers bring a knife and place it in the dying al-Atrash's hand. A video clip showing al-Atrash's laying wounded surfaced after the killing. In the video a local can be heard shouting to the soldiers "At least take him an ambulance." The video later shows tear gas being fired. According to an Israeli military spokesperson, al-Atrash died on his way to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. == Knife on Facebook ==

On December 2, 2015, Israeli journalist Ben-Dror Yemini published an op-ed in ynetnews in which he accused Amnesty of having an "anti-Israel agenda". He stated that al-Atrash had posted a picture of himself holding a bleeding knife on Facebook several days before he was killed and he alleged that Amnesty had deliberately omitted that. Amnesty responded with: "The Facebook picture does not change the circumstances of al-Atrash's death. According to our assessment, which is based on a testimony, he did not pose an immediate life-endangering threat when he was shot repeatedly. In any event. Even if he was shot because soldiers believed he posed a lethal threat, he should not have been left to bleed for 40 minutes." == Responses ==

On February 17, 2016, nine American congressmen and Senator Patrick Leahy wrote a letter to the US State Department inquiring about "specific allegations of gross violations of human rights" by the security forces of Egypt and Israel. The letter's signatories wanted the State Department to investigate if the killing of, al-Atrash, among others, constituted a human rights violation. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in response to the letter said that "IDF soldiers and Israel Police officers protect with their bodies, in a moral manner, themselves and innocent civilians from bloodthirsty terrorists set on killing them.” == See also ==