Israeli court rejects petition against exonerating killer of autistic Palestinian

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel’s High Court on Thursday rejected a petition by the parents of an autistic Palestinian against his killer’s exoneration, according to a local nongovernmental organization.

Iyad Halak, a 32-year-old Palestinian, was shot dead by a Border Police officer in occupied East Jerusalem in May 2020 as he was on his way to a special education school.

The soldier, who killed the autistic Palestinian, however, was cleared of any wrongdoing by Jerusalem District Court.

The Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) and State Attorney’s Office declined to appeal the court verdict, prompting the Halak family to file a petition to compel Israeli authorities to overturn the decision to exonerate the soldier.

But the High Court rejected the petition by the victim’s parents, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) said in a statement.

It warned that the verdict “will provide immunity for members of the army and police to execute Palestinians, and may prevent any possibility of holding them criminally responsible for killing Palestinians in similar situations.”

“The ruling … dangerously and unreasonably expands the requirements for self-defense in criminal law, as the court allows police officers, with this decision, to carry out killings based solely on their personal feelings of danger,” it added.

Thursday’s court verdict came amid rising tensions across the occupied West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 459 Palestinians have since been killed and around 4,750 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza, where more than 33,500 people have been killed.