Beitunia Killings

On May 15, 2014, Palestinian demonstrations marking Nakba Day took place near the Beitunia checkpoint and Ofer Prison, south of Ramallah. Beitunia is in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[1]

The demonstrations included violent confrontations with Israeli forces. The IDF described the event as a violent and unlawful disturbance, while the later Supreme Court judgment recorded that masked rioters threw stones toward a Border Police position from approximately 60 to 80 meters away. Nawara participated in the stone-throwing at about 13:41, but the judgment states that it had ceased by approximately 13:45, when he was shot.[2][3]

Two Palestinian youths were shot and killed during the Nakba Day confrontations near the Beitunia checkpoint on May 15, 2014.[2] The sources consistently identify one victim as Nadim Nawara, 17, but identify the second either as Muhammad Mahmoud Odeh Salameh, 16, or Muhammad Abu Taher, 22.[4][5] The U.S. Department of State's 2014 human-rights report used the name Salameh and stated that he was shot in the back.[4]

According to the prosecution's account, Border Police officer Ben Deri was stationed at an elevated position with six other officers and a military documentarian, tasked with keeping demonstrators away from the checkpoint.[5] The indictment alleged that Nawara threw stones toward the force at 13:41 and was shot in the chest at approximately 13:45 while walking with his hands at his sides.[5] The U.S. report, relaying DCI-Palestine's assessment of the footage, said Israeli police were more than 100 yards from the victims and that neither youth presented a direct and immediate threat when shot.[4]

Medical reports from Ramallah's government hospital, signed by intensive-care director Dr. Samir Saliba, stated that both dead youths and another seriously injured demonstrator had been hit by live bullets.[2] An autopsy conducted in June 2014 at the Abu Dis Institute of Forensic Medicine — attended by Palestinian, Israeli, American, and Danish pathologists — found that Nawara was almost certainly killed by live fire, most likely from an IDF weapon; an entry wound, an exit wound, and shrapnel were documented.[6]

The Palestinian Authority condemned the killings and announced a general day of mourning.[1] Government spokesman Ihab Bsaiso blamed Israel, called the deaths a "violation of international conventions," and demanded immediate international intervention.[1] PA security-services spokesman Adnan Dmeiri said Palestinians were considering whether to continue security coordination with Israel.[1]

Hamas announced on Al-Aqsa TV that one of the dead was a Hamas member.[1] At the funeral in Ramallah on May 16, attended by hundreds including Hamas and Fatah activists, one body was wrapped in a Hamas flag and the other in a Fatah flag.[1] PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi characterized the deaths as deliberate executions and called for international action.[7]

The IDF initially said that its personnel had used rubber bullets and tear-gas grenades rather than live fire. It also called the released video edited in a "tendentious manner," arguing that it did not reflect the disturbance's violence or show the period before the shootings.[2] Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon suggested that the footage might have been doctored, an allegation denied by the human-rights groups that distributed it.[8] The military prosecution ordered a limited Military Police investigation.[2]

Israeli authorities suspended a Border Police officer after the incident and subsequently arrested and indicted him in November 2014; his commander was also arrested on suspicion of covering up the incident.[4] The later amended indictment and guilty plea established that Deri's weapon fired the live round that killed Nawara, although the accepted account stated that Deri believed he was firing ammunition intended to propel a rubber projectile.[3]

The original indictment alleged that Deri had been authorized to fire rubber ammunition but deliberately placed a live round in an ammunition magazine used for firing rubber rounds so that the use of live fire would not be noticed. It alleged that he aimed at the center of Nawara's body and fired with the intention of causing serious injury while anticipating the possibility of death.[5] Prosecutors presented a projectile that expert testing reportedly linked to Deri's weapon. Deri was prosecuted in connection with Nawara's death, not the second death, and his lawyer denied that he had fired the fatal shot.[5]

The case suffered significant procedural delays over the following years — approximately 50 hearing delays or cancellations — as well as a judge's dismissal because of a connection to a witness and a subsequent delay in appointing a replacement.[9]

In January 2017, prosecutors reached a plea agreement with Deri under which the charge was amended.[9] The agreed factual basis, as recorded in the subsequent Supreme Court judgment, held that Deri decided to fire rubber ammunition at Nawara in order to injure him, even though Nawara posed no danger to the force at that moment. Deri aimed at the center of Nawara's body but failed to check the magazine and negligently failed to load a rubber projectile as required.[3] A live round was present without Deri's knowledge, struck Nawara in the chest, and caused his death. Nawara had thrown stones shortly before the shooting but was walking toward the officers with his hands at his sides when Deri fired.[3]

Deri was convicted of wounding in aggravated circumstances and causing death by negligence.[3] The Jerusalem District Court sentenced him in April 2018 to nine months' imprisonment, a suspended sentence, and ₪50,000 in compensation to Nawara's family.[3] Nawara's parents challenged the plea agreement, but the Supreme Court rejected their petition in June 2017.[3]

The State appealed on the grounds of leniency. In August 2018, the Supreme Court majority accepted the appeal and increased the prison term to 18 months, leaving the other components of the sentence unchanged; Deri's appeal was dismissed.[3] Justice Elron dissented and would have retained the nine-month sentence, emphasizing the operational circumstances, Nawara's recent stone-throwing, and the limitations of drawing broad conclusions from a case resolved through a plea agreement rather than a full trial.[3]

Accounts of the shootings differed from the outset. Palestinian representatives and human-rights organizations characterized them as unlawful killings of youths who posed no immediate threat. The IDF emphasized the violent disturbance and initially denied that its personnel had used live fire.[4][2] Ya'alon's suggestion that the surveillance footage might have been doctored was disputed by the groups that released it.[8]

The legal process also produced materially different accounts of Deri's intent. The original indictment alleged that he deliberately inserted a live round into a magazine used for rubber-ammunition fire and sought to conceal the use of live ammunition.[5] The plea-based conviction instead held that he intended to injure Nawara with rubber ammunition but negligently failed to check the magazine and load the rubber projectile.[3] Right-wing activists claimed parts of the filmed scene had been staged, while Palestinian representatives maintained that the footage documented deliberate executions.[8] Sources also continued to report inconsistent names and ages for the second victim.[4][5]