Palestinian man shot dead 'after throwing plant pot at Israeli soldiers'

A Palestinian man was shot dead in his home by Israeli forces after hurling a plastic plant pot at them in a rage when they wounded his son, his family said on Thursday.

Falah Abu Maria, 52, died after being shot twice in the chest by Israeli soldiers who had tried to raid the family home in the West Bank village of Beit Omar, near Hebron, in the early hours of the morning to arrest a wanted man.

He was the second Palestinian in 24 hours to be shot dead during nighttime army raids, sparking fears of further confrontation in the occupied territory. Mohammed Alawneh, 22, was killed early on Wednesday in clashes that followed raids and searches of several houses in the village of Birqin in the northern West Bank.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the latest shooting occurred after soldiers were attacked by a "violent mob" who threw rocks and stones from the roof of the Abu Maria family house for between 10 and 20 minutes.

That version was flatly contradicted, however, by eyewitness accounts from family members who insisted there was neither stone throwing nor a mob present at the time of Mr Abu Maria's death.

"This is false," said Sara Abu Maria, 25, the dead man's daughter-in-law, who was standing next to him when he was shot. "Nobody was here [on the veranda] except myself, my mother-in-law, father-in-law, my husband, and our children. Not a single stone was thrown. Only the plant was thrown and they shot him [Mr Abu Maria] immediately."

_{Witness Sara Abu Maria and her daughter, Mina (Robert Tait/The Telegraph)}

There were no obvious signs of rocks or debris in the area of the house when the Daily Telegraph visited on Thursday.

Mr Abu Maria, a father of 11 who ran a carpenter's business from the ground floor of the family home, went to the front door along with two of his sons, Mohammed and Nabil, when Israeli forces started banging demanding access at 3.30am.

An altercation started when the men did not open the door quickly enough and then tried to stop the soldiers from entering until the women of the house had had time to get out of bed and dress, relatives said.

In the fracas, Mohammed, 24, was shot twice in his right and left legs at point blank range, one of the bullets entering his testicles, according to Dr Izideen Hashlamoun, a surgical resident at al-Ahli hospital in Hebron, where the wounded son was detained.

_{Mohammed in his hospital bed (Robert Tait/The Telegraph)}

At that point, Mr Abu Maria ran upstairs to the veranda and started screaming that his son had been killed.

"He was angry. He couldn't control himself because he thought his son was dead, there was a lot of blood," said Sara, a mother of two married to Mr Abu Maria's eldest son, Ahmed. "He picked up a small plastic flower pot and threw it at the soldiers. But it didn't hit them. It landed on the ground.

"Then they shot him, three times. I was standing next to him on the balcony when it happened. He died almost immediately but before he passed away he uttered an Islamic prayer, saying there is no God but God and Mohammed is his messenger then said, 'I've fallen a martyr'.

"It was like an action movie. I have never witnessed such a thing."

No one was detained during the raid and an Israeli army spokeswoman was unable to say who the soldiers wished to arrest.

_{Faika Abu Maria at home (Robert Tait/The Telegraph)}

Mr Abu Maria's wife, Faika, 51, said five of their six sons had spent time in Israeli jails on a variety of charges, including throwing stones.

Beit Omar, which lies just off Route 60 connecting Hebron with Jerusalem, is a frequent flashpoint for clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians throwing stones and other missiles. After Mr Abu Maria's funeral on Thursday, tensions rose, with the main road into the town blocked off as Israeli forces and local Palestinians prepared for yet another confrontation.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mohammed Abu Maria said he had been detained for two-and-a-half months last year accused of throwing stones but was later released after his family paid 5,000 shekels (£842) in bail.

"They have been in our house about 100 times since 1989, arresting my brothers and me, but their behaviour this time was different from any previous occasion," said Mohammed, who still had not been told of his father's death as he spoke. "We didn't lift our hands to them but they used violence against me, hitting me with rifle butts, and then they shot me."

An army spokeswoman said: "I have heard nothing about a plant pot but I know they were throwing rocks and bricks from the roof. It wasn't just residents of the house, there was a mob there. I would assume the rock throwing lasted for 10 or 20 minutes."

She was unable to say why no one was detained but said an investigation would be launched into the incident.