Video raises questions about Israeli police shooting

JERUSALEM – New amateur video of a deadly police shooting in east Jerusalem raised questions Wednesday about the police version of events.

Police initially said the Palestinian driver had tried to run over their forces in Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp before police shot at the car earlier this week. But the amateur video, aired on Channel 10 TV, appeared to show police shooting after the vehicle had been stopped, suggesting it no longer posed a threat.

The driver, Ali Nimr, was wounded and arrested, while his brother-in-law, Mustafa Nimr, the passenger, was fatally shot.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said Wednesday the driver is being investigated for various charges, including causing death by negligence, drunk driving and driving without a license.

She would not say whether he is still accused of trying to intentionally harm the officers.

The Shuafat incident was the latest in a wave of violence that has taken place over the past year.

Since September 2015, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans in attacks. Some 209 Palestinians have been killed in that time, most of them identified as attackers by Israel.

Palestinians have frequently accused Israelis of using excessive force against assailants and said in many cases, alleged assailants were not even attackers.

In the most high-profile case, an Israeli soldier is on trial on charges of manslaughter after he was filmed fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron in March. The soldier, Sgt. Elor Azaria, has argued that the attacker still posed a threat at the time.