What happened to palestinian man Firas Qasqas?
The palestinians are claiming IDF soldiers killed him for no reason, yet if you examine the palestinian reports of the incident, you will see at least three versions.
Version 1: Ma’an News Agency
Israeli soldiers shot and killed an unarmed Palestinian man in the village of At-Tira, near Ramallah on Sunday, witnesses said.
Thirty-one-year-old Firas Qasqas from the village of Battir, near Bethlehem, died of his wounds on Monday in a Ramallah hospital, his family said. He was visiting his brother-in-law in At-Tira at the time of the shooting.
Qasqas’s brother-in-law Jamil said that they were out for an evening walk when Israeli forces attacked them: “Firas visited me to congratulate me on the new house. After we had dinner, we went out for a walk in the fields not far away from my residence. My little brother joined us. All of a sudden, seven Israeli soldiers surprised us shooting randomly at us.”
“I found shelter behind the rocks along with my brother, but Firas was shot in his thigh and stomach. Then I stood up and shouted at the Israeli soldiers asking for help, but they only watched us before I went to the neighboring houses and asked local residents to help us take Firas to hospital,” he said.
Jamil stressed that he and his brother-in-law were walking in an open field, with no Israeli military bases or settlements nearby.
Version 2: IMEMC
A Palestinian man died of wounds he sustained after being shot by Israeli military forces in At Teira village in the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday morning.
Medical sources reported the death of Firas Qasqas (31) following wounds he received on Sunday night. He died early Monday morning.
Israeli troops opened fire on Qasqas and his relatives as they were walking through the village. Medical sources reported that Qasqas underwent three operations in Ramallah local hospital, but medics were unable to save his life.
Version 3: WAFA
A youth died early Monday of wounds he sustained by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in Bethlehem city of the West Bank, medics said.
They added that the youth Firas Kaskas 31 (a “youth” at 31-years-of-age – Aussie Dave) was shot while he was picnicking with two of his relatives when eight soldiers opened fire against them. Kaskas was shot with a live bullet in the belly.
Although I’ve highlighted the discrepancies in red, I’ll summarize them below (I’m a giver, after all).
| Ma’an | IMEMC | WAFA | |
| When shot | While walking in the open fields | While walking in the village itself | While picnicking |
| Location of shooting | At-Tira, near Ramallah | At-Tira, in Ramallah | Bethlehem |
| Perpetrators | 7 IDF soldiers | N/A | 8 IDF soldiers |
| Where shot | In stomach and thigh | N/A | In stomach |
The fact that the palestinians are reporting different versions of this story should indicate to you that they are lying about what happened. Especially considering that we are not dealing with minor discrepancies here. Not only that, but the story itself does not make much sense. After all, do you really think that the supposed victim and his relatives could have maintained their composure while being fired upon, and counted the exact number of soldiers?
The Israel Defense Forces spokesman informed us that after a preliminary investigation, it transpired that soldiers at an army observation post had spotted three Palestinians who were behaving suspiciously.
“The three, who were identified as being busy on the ground for quite a few minutes, were suspected by the force of planting a bomb,” the statement said. “A force … was rushed to the site and launched a pursuit of the suspects, during which they called on them to stop and also fired into the air. When the calls were ignored, the force opened fire at the suspects.”
According to the IDF, “the incident was investigated at all levels of command, and the lessons will be learned and applied. The findings of the investigation will be conveyed to the Military Advocate General’s Office.”
I will be interested to see the findings of the investigation and have no compunctions about reporting the truth even if it shows that I erred in my assumption that the palestinians lied about these events.
I am still curious as to why the palestinian versions differ in the ways I demonstrated. I am also curious to see if the IDF claim will make its way into the palestinian media.
