Israeli troops will not face criminal charges over Palestinian-American's death
Israel's military has said no criminal charges will be filed against soldiers who gagged and bound an elderly Palestinian-American man who then died of heart failure.
Omar Asad, 80, was detained at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank overnight in January 2022.
The soldiers left him unresponsive on the ground of a construction site and said they assumed he had fallen asleep.
Palestinian leaders say this case shows the near impunity of Israeli soldiers.
They have called for those involved to be prosecuted in an international court.
Mr Asad had been out drinking coffee and playing cardsbeforedriving to his home in the village of Jiljilya, near Ramallah, his family said, when his car was stopped at a temporary checkpoint in the early hours of the morning.
Israeli soldiers are said to have been in the area "to thwart terrorist activity and locate illegal weapons".
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that Mr Asad "loudly and persistently" resisted attempts to lead him away from his car.
It added that he was briefly gagged with a strip of cloth and his hands were tied with a cable tie "due to the concern that Asad's behaviour would lead to the soldiers being exposed and in view of his aggressive resistance".
He was taken to a nearby building where three other Palestinians were later detained too.
"The soldiers believed Asad was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and assumed he fell asleep on the ground, where he was laid," the IDF statement said.
Before the Israeli soldiers left the area, they found Mr Asad lying face upwards andunresponsive but "did not identify any indications that Asad was in distress", according to the IDF. "Therefore, they assumed he was asleep, did not attempt to wake him up, and left the location."
His body was later found there.
FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-65882070
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