PALESTINIAN SHEPHERD KILLED NEAR SETTLEMENT;

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001842 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2018 TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN SHEPHERD KILLED NEAR SETTLEMENT; VILLAGERS REJECT AUTOPSY RESULTS Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. On September 27, the body of an 18-year-old Palestinian shepherd was found near Gittit settlement in the Jordan Valley. According to an Israeli Police statement, an autopsy determined the shepherd was killed while "playing with" a 40mm grenade round. Villagers told Poloff they reject the autopsy conclusions, and claim the shepherd was killed by settlers from nearby Itamar. END SUMMARY. Shepherd found dead -------------- ¶2. (C) On the evening of September 27, the body of 18-year-old shepherd Suhaib Beni Miniyeh of Aqrabeh village (population 8,500; southeast of Nablus) was found a few hundred meters east of the northern Jordan Valley settlement of Gittit. On September 29, the Israel National Police announced that an autopsy determined Beni Miniyeh was killed while "playing with" a 40mm grenade round usually fired from an M-203 type M-16 rifle, resulting in a severed cartid artery and numerous shrapnel wounds. The body was returned to Aqrabeh September 29, on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, where villagers held a funeral and demonstrations. Villagers recount events of September 27 -------------- ¶3. (C) On October 2, Poloff discussed the incident with the victim's family and members of the village council in Aqrabeh. According to the victim's uncle, Fauzi Beni Miniyeh, five shepherds were herding sheep south of the village around 1:00 p.m. when Beni Miniyeh wandered some 500m out of their sight. Soon after, the shepherds saw a white car with Israeli license plates pass them on a road often used by settlers from Itamar (southeast of Nablus). Beni Miniyeh said that the shepherds heard screaming and observed the same white car speed back past them. At 5:00 p.m., Beni Miniyeh said villagers began to worry when the shepherd's flock returned home without him. Initiating a search, they found his body - riddled with twenty holes - around midnight near the entrance to the Jordan Valley settlement of Gittit. The villagers said they informed Gittit's security guard, who called Israeli authorities. Villagers reject autopsy report; Settler violence an ongoing problem -------------- ¶4. (C) The family said they agreed on an autopsy to be performed in Israel, but were denied permits to attend the procedure for security reasons. The family has not officially received the results of the autopsy, but rejected the conclusions as they understood them from press reports. They claimed that, on September 27, an IDF doctor at the scene stated that Beni Miniyeh "was killed by an M-16" in a "malicious way." Villagers also said that a similar incident occurred in 2002, when Itamar settlers shot and injured an Aqrabeh villager; the Israeli Police investigation also concluded that stray IDF ordinance had caused the injuries despite eyewitness accounts to the contrary. Aqrabeh village council member Ayssa Dayrieh told Poloff, "this is a permanent problem for us," noting that four villagers have previously been killed "by settlers," while several villagers recounted stories of shootings, stolen animals and torched fields. Settlers claim vindication -------------- ¶5. (C) Settlers across the northern West Bank breathed a sigh of relief as autopsy results were announced. Settler pioneer Benny Katsover of Elon Moreh (10 km north of Aqrabeh),head of the "Samaria Action Committee" suspected of encouraging and instigating violent activity by settlers, told Poloff, "the left-wing media was quick to blame the settlers," and said the autopsy result speaks for itself. WALLES