In the last 10 years Israeli security forces have killed more than 3,400 Palestinians but only five have been convicted.
The killing of an autistic Palestinian man by two Israeli police officers last week has prompted rare statements of condolence from both Israeli and international officials, but Palestinians have little faith an inquiry will result in any accountability.
Iyad Hallaq, 32, was walking to his special needs school in the Old City of Jerusalem, when he was called on by the Israeli officers to stop. In their official statement, the officers said they suspected Hallaq was carrying a weapon and began chasing him when he panicked and began to run. As Hallaq hid behind a dumpster, just a few metres away from his school, he was shot dead.
The Israeli police’s internal investigations department is probing the incident. According to Israeli daily Haaretz, a source within the investigation said one of the officers – a new recruit armed with an M16 assault rifle – is suspected of continuing to shoot at Hallaq despite being told by his commander to stop. The same officer said he suspected Hallaq was a “terrorist” because he was wearing gloves, Haaretz added.
Hallaq was diagnosed with low-functioning autism as a child and had trouble communicating with people. According to his father, Khairy Hallaq, his son had the mental capacity of an eight-year-old – and no concept of the dangerous reality of life under occupation around him. Hallaq was given special documentation by his school, which he had attended for the past six years, that explained his disability so he could prove his condition to Israeli forces, as he was unable to do so himself. His family members told Israeli media he “wasn’t capable of harming anyone”. On Sunday, Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz issued a rare apology.
“We are very sorry for this incident,” Gantz said in a government meeting. “I am sure the issue will be investigated quickly, and conclusions will be drawn.”
The same day, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, also condemned the killing, calling it a “tragedy that should and could have been avoided”.
“The authorities should swiftly investigate and make sure such incidents are not allowed to happen,” Mladenov said.
olice inquiry into the shooting.
“The news of Israeli authorities ordering an investigation into Iyad’s murder means nothing to us,” he told Al Jazeera, speaking from the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi al-Joz. “We know they’ll twist the facts and we won’t be surprised if they concluded that the officers fired at him out of ‘self-defence’.”
Israeli investigations into the killing of Palestinian civilians are rarely credible, he added. According to Israeli rights group B’Tselem, over the last decade – April 2011 until May 2020 – Israeli security forces have killed 3,408 Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories and within Israel.
Of these cases, only five Israeli security personnel – which includes both military and police – were convicted.
“We don’t have the number of investigations opened into police killings,” B’Tselem media spokesperson Amit Gilutz told Al Jazeera. “But as far as military goes, over this same period investigations into the killings of about 200 Palestinians were opened.”
Source: aljazeera.com
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
