An Israeli force fired at Palestinian youths endangering no one in Kafr ‘Aqab, killing one

On Saturday, 20 September 2024, at around 3:30 A.M., several military and Border Police jeeps arrived on the main road between Kafr ‘Aqab and Qalandia Refugee Camp that leads to Ramallah. The jeeps drove against the flow of traffic, and stopped about 40 meters from the entrance to the camp. At 3:40 A.M., a security camera captured a group of young men sitting at a cafe in Kafr ‘Aqab, a few dozen meters from the entrance to the camp. In the footage, they are seen following reports on social media that Israeli forces are in the area. One is seen waking his friend Yasser Mteir, 19, a resident of Kafr ‘Aqab who is asleep on a couch and warning him that the army is nearby. At this point, the youths leave the cafe and some turn onto the main road. Mteir is seen leaving about 10 or 15 seconds after his friends, at 3:42 A.M. According to the youths, they feared the forces would raid the cafe, as they did in previous raids, and therefore hurried to the main road. Some wanted to move their cars so as to avoid damage, and others wanted to watch what was happening on the road. There is a 20-30 second section of the footage in which the young men are no longer visible, after they turn onto the main road. According to testimonies given to B’Tselem, they reached the road and stopped about 40 meters away from the jeeps. One of the jeeps then drove towards them and stopped about 20 meters away. The right door opened and a member of the force aimed his rifle at them. In the security footage, part of the original group of young men are seen running back toward the cafe at 3:43 A.M. Five seconds later, a single shot is heard. According to testimonies, Yasser Mteir was hit in the abdomen by that bullet and fell to the ground. Two youths ran back to help him flee. A few seconds later, at 3:34, the wounded Mteir is seen limping toward the cafe’s alley, supported by two others. At the entrance to the alley, Mteir falls again. Soldiers then fire two teargas canisters at them, and his companions help him get up and run further into the alley. At that point, Mteir was put in a private car that drove him to the Palestine Medical Center, where he arrived within minutes. Mteir underwent surgery immediately, and at around 10:30 A.M., he was transferred to the intensive care unit. About an hour later, he was pronounced dead. In a response given to Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy, the IDF spokesperson claimed that “during joint activity of the security forces in the area of Qalandiyah and Kafr Akeb, a force responded with gunfire at a person who was throwing explosive devices. A hit was observed.” However, the footage and B’Tselem’s investigation cast doubt on the reliability of this version. The investigation found that there were no clashes at that spot between camp residents and Israeli forces at the time of the shooting, and found no indication that explosives were hurled. The footage obtained by B’Tselem shows cafe patrons, including Mteir, leaving the cafe with empty hands.  Mteir was fatally shot only 23 seconds after leaving the cafe. It is hard to accept the military’s claim that in these 23 seconds, Mteir managed to locate an explosive device and throw it at the forces. Moreover, no explosion is heard in the footage, nor was anyone hurt in the incident other than Mteir himself. No one was arrested in the incident. [Technical note: The security camera’s clock was set to winter time. The time stamps mentioned here were adjusted to daylight savings time, which was in effect at the time of the incident – an hour later.]