‘Case closed’ for the murdered Palestinian elderly near Ramallah

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Israeli media revealed that the military prosecution will close the case investigating the martyrdom of the elderly Palestinian Omar Asaad near Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, after being assaulted by the Israeli occupation soldiers.

Yedioth Ahronoth said the military prosecution will recommend closing the case file of five Israeli soldiers accused of causing his death "for lack of evidence,” as per its allegations.

The cold-blooded murder

It is circulated that five Israeli occupation soldiers deliberately arrested the elderly martyr Omar Asaad, who was in his eighties, from the village of Jiljilya, Ramallah District, on January 12. 

In the process, a temporary checkpoint was set up near the town, and Asaad’s vehicle was arbitrarily stopped. The elderly Palestinian man was blindfolded and taken to an abandoned house where he was severely beaten and assaulted before he was left lying on the ground in an under-construction building until he passed away.

The Israeli occupation claimed that the soldiers did not exercise excessive force against Assad, despite dragging him in the cold, although he suffers from several diseases, and deliberately covering his face and mouth with a piece of cloth, which caused him to suffocate.

Asaad's body was discovered in Jiljilya in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with a black plastic zip-tie still brutally wrapped around one wrist.

The residents noticed someone lying lifeless on the ground, so they rushed toward him and took him to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah for treatment. However, tragically, Assad died before getting there.

Such inhumane crimes are being committed on daily basis against Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF).

جانب من التنكيل الذي تعرض له الشهيد المسن عمر عبد المجيد أسعد من قرية جلجليا شمالي رام الله، أثناء احتجازه وتقييده من قبل قوات الاحتلال وتركه ملقى على الأرض حتى فارق الحياة. pic.twitter.com/15DbXPIdUx

— قناة الأقصى الفضائية (@SerajSat) January 12, 2022

Case closed as if nothing has happened

The Israeli prosecution has recommended closing the case despite the US demands for clarification over what happened, considering that Asaad was a US citizen.

The US State Department had stated, following the murder, that Omar Abdul Majeed Asaad was a US citizen and that it had sought clarification from “Israel” over the incident. 

"We support a thorough investigation into the circumstances," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.