Palestinian cities and towns across Israel on Sunday observed a one-day strike following a call by the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel in response to the killing of Mohammed al-Osaibi, a Palestinian doctor who was fatally shot by Israeli forces. .
Eyewitnesses said that police shot Osaibi 10 times at the Chain Gate (Bab al-Silsela), one of the gates to the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in the Old City of Jerusalem, on Friday evening after he tried to prevent to prevent them from harassing a woman who wants to. to re-enter the mosque.
Israeli police said in a statement that the man tried to grab a soldier’s weapon and was shot and later “neutralized”. Osaibi was a 26-year-old resident of the bedouin town of Hura in the Naqab (Negev) region of southern Israel.
Osaibi’s family has disputed the police account of his death and demanded to see CCTV footage, Israeli media reported. Osaibi had recently earned a medical degree in Romania and returned to his hometown a month ago, the family said.
Israeli police, meanwhile, stood by their original version of events and issued another statement on Saturday afternoon saying the site of the attack was not covered by surveillance cameras.
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After an emergency meeting on Saturday in Hura, the Follow-up General Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel called for a strike that includes all municipalities, public education facilities and shops in Palestinian cities and towns in Israel.
The emergency meeting, held by the committee and the Higher Steering Committee of the Arabs of the Negev, was attended by Palestinian legislators in the Knesset, the Committee of Leaders of Arab Local Authorities in Israel and the leaders of private local authorities in southern Israel. .
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The committee, an umbrella organization representing the citizens of Palestine Israel, called for a special investigative committee to look into the killing of Osaibi.
He also inspired a huge crowd that came to his funeral on Sunday in protest against all “occupation policies, oppression and racial discrimination”.
Since the beginning of the year, Israeli forces have killed at least 87 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians, in the deadliest start to a year since 2000, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
On Saturday, Israeli forces killed 23-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Baradyah after he allegedly carried out a car ramming attack near the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, wounding three Israelis.
The weekend escalation threatens to end a relative lull during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan so far, a period that usually sees an increase in clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians, particularly in East Jerusalem as Israel tightens restrictions against of Palestinians in the area.