schema:articleBody
| - A Palestinian man was shot dead Tuesday at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank after driving his car at speed toward a policewoman, Israeli police said. The deceased was identified as Ahmad Erakat, nephew of Saeb Erakat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Ahmad, 27, was "executed" by the Israeli police, his uncle told AFP, adding that he held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for "this crime". He dismissed the police allegation of an attempted car ramming as "impossible", saying that Ahmad was due to be married later in the week. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement that the alleged attacker was "shot and killed" at a checkpoint in Abu Dis, just east of Jerusalem. He "drove his vehicle quickly towards the direction of a female border police officer who was injured lightly", Rosenfeld added. Later in Abu Dis, Palestinians threw stones at soldiers who responded by firing tear gas and sponge-tipped ammunition, AFP journalists at the scene said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Tuesday's incident came nearly a month after a Palestinian man was killed in similar circumstances near the West Bank city of Ramallah. He was shot dead on May 29 after trying to ram a car into Israeli soldiers, none of whom were injured, police said at the time. Tuesday's incident comes ahead of plans by Netanyahu to annex parts of the West Bank. Netanyahu said the government would take steps towards annexing Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley from July 1, as part of a broader US peace plan. The proposals have sparked widespread international criticism and warnings that such a move would spark violence. bur/cgo/scw/sw
|