DOTAN CHECKPOINT – A Palestinian was shot dead on Thursday in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops at an army post in the northern West Bank, security sources on both sides said. The Israeli military said the man had approached the post near the settlement of Mevo Dotan and opened fire with a Kalashnikov after shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).
“The terrorist came out on a donkey from the olive trees,” said Itamar Ashenazi, deputy commander of the battalion involved in the incident. “He got off the donkey and started to walk” towards the army post, he said, prompting four soldiers at the post to aim their weapons at him. “He didn’t stop, he shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ and started firing to the soldiers,” he said. “They fired the first shots in the air and when he didn’t stop shooting… they shot him.
“The shooting took place near the settlement of Mevo Dotan, some 10 kilometres (six miles) southwest of the town of Jenin. Palestinian security officials named the dead man as 23-year-old Saalem Mohammed Samudi from Yamun village near Jenin, saying he was a relative and very close friend of another Palestinian shot dead by troops on January 8 at a checkpoint near Nablus. In that incident, Khaldun Samudi was shot dead as he ran towards the checkpoint shouting Islamic slogans. Security sources said at the time that he was a member of the of the radical Islamic Jihad movement in Jenin. Locals told AFP that Saalem Samudi was also a member of Islamic Jihad, but his family members told reporters at Jenin hospital that they were not aware he belonged to any militant group. It was the third time this month that troops have shot dead a Palestinian at an army post or checkpoint. On January 2, Israeli troops at the same checkpoint near Nablus shot and killed a Palestinian after he entered the wrong lane holding a bottle that troops apparently mistook for a weapon.
