Israel clears Palestinian woman of stabbing charges

Israel’s public prosecution cleared a Palestinian woman who was shot three weeks ago from charges pertaining to her intention to carry out a stabbing attack.

Israa Abed, 29, was shot multiple times in the Afula bus station on 9 October and has been in Israeli custody since.

The Israeli Justice Ministry on Wednesday said that police investigations into Abed’s shooting were conclusive of the fact that she did not pose any threat, particularly as she was standing close to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man with no intent to hurt him.

Abed will not be indicted for any attack.

A video of the shooting shows Abed, a Nazareth resident, standing alone surrounded by heavily armed Israeli police. Shots are then fired and Abed crumples to the floor.

Israeli daily Haaretz said that Abed “suffers from mental illness and has a history of hospitalisations”.

Abed’s father, Zeidan, refuted from the very beginning that his daughter was planning on carrying out a stabbing attack.

“There is no truth to these claims,” he told Arab48 website. “She was raised up well and excelled in her studies.”

Zeidan Abed hoped that his daughter will be released on Wednesday, but the prosecution stated that they will still file minor charges against her, such as possession of knife. As such, Abed will remain in detention until Sunday.

While calling the conduct of the four security personnel who shot Abed in question, the prosecution said that they will not undertake disciplinary action against them.

MK Yousef Jabareen from the Joint Arab List lamented the decision as giving a “green light to other policemen to shoot without justification and legitimises being light on the trigger”.

“Anyone who saw the video sees that there was no danger to the police or the area justifying gunfire,” Jabareen said. “Only by a miracle did the shooting not end in Israa’s death. We will press to appeal this mistaken decision.”