Israeli police shoot and kill siblings they say threatened officers with a knife

Reporting from Tel Aviv —  A Palestinian woman and her teenage brother were shot and killed Wednesday at a busy East Jerusalem checkpoint after threatening border police with a knife, Israeli officials said, highlighting persisting tensions even though a wave of stabbing attacks has ebbed considerably in recent weeks.

The incident occurred at the heavily guarded Qalandia checkpoint, a frequent scene of violence, which serves tens of thousands of Palestinian pedestrians and motorists crossing daily between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah.

A 23-year old woman and her younger brother walked up to security forces stationed near a lane of cars waiting to be inspected, prompting police officers to warn them several times to stop, Israeli officials said. The woman momentarily retreated, according to the police, but then suddenly spun around, took a butcher knife from her handbag and threw it at a nearby policeman.

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Security guards and border police, fearing a “substantial threat to their lives,” immediately opened fire on the pair, Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

The woman was identified by Israeli police as Maram Abu Ismail, a mother of two. Her brother was identified by Palestinian and Israeli reports as 16-year-old Ibrahim Salah Taha. Police said Taha was wearing a belt with a butcher knife and a folding knife.

Palestinian witnesses accused Israeli forces of shooting the siblings multiple times and of blocking Palestinian medical personnel from treating the wounded. No officers were hurt.

The deadly confrontation risks reigniting a half-year surge of violence that has been on the wane. Soon after the shooting, fighting broke out at the Qalandia crossing point. Hamas, which claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Jerusalem bus last week, called on Palestinians to step up clashes with Israel.

According to Israeli officials, the number attacks on Israelis by Palestinians dropped by 75% in March compared with October, the worst month of violence during the recent wave. The attacks have continued to drop in April.

In recent months, Palestinian educators have started discouraging stabbing attacks, and security forces have started to check youths for weapons. Both Israeli and Palestinian security personnel have started to crack down on Internet users accused of encouraging the spate of lone-wolf attacks by spreading incendiary messages on social networks.

The deaths Wednesday also prompted Palestinian allegations that Israeli security forces used excessive force to stop the brother and sister.

Throughout the wave of violence, Palestinian officials accused Israel of carrying out “extra-judicial executions” of assailants. Late last month, after an Israeli soldier shot dead a Palestinian attacker lying wounded in the West Bank, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called for a United Nations investigation of the incidents.

Human rights advocates have also voiced concern. Sari Bashi, Human Rights Watch’s director for Israel and the Palestinian territories, said that some Israeli ministers have openly encouraged a policy of killing attackers as a means of deterring future attacks.

“The job of police and soldiers is to arrest a suspected attacker, and bring them into custody, so the case can be investigated,” said Bashi, who noted that her organization had not yet investigated the shootings Wednesday. “That is not what they are doing.”

Mitnick is a special correspondent.

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