ISRAEL'S security forces will now be freer to use live ammunition against Palestinians throwing stones — including against minors — as part of a tough new series of measures pushed through by Tel Aviv. If one was to juxtapose that decision with the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old Palestinian female student at a checkpoint in Hebron, both events will underscore the issue of how quickly Israeli security forces turn to lethal force. Under the new rules of engagement, approved unanimously by the security Cabinet, police and soldiers will be able to fire when a third party is under threat. Until the change, Israeli soldiers facing Palestinian protests could open fire with live bullets only if their own life was in danger. Now they may fire at will, not only when their lives are in danger but also those of Israeli civilians. Now, Hadeel Al-Hashlamon, a first-year student at Hebron University was gunned down after the Israeli military claimed she had intended to stab a soldier at a checkpoint. But several witnesses, plus a video, dispute this. Al-Hashlamon was on her way to the university and knew she had to be searched before entering. There were only male soldiers and when she asked them to bring in a female soldier to check her, they refused. She was ready to turn back when a soldier asked the teenager to open her bag for inspection and when she did he shouted and then shot her. At the moment of the shooting, Al-Hashlamon was surrounded by soldiers and was standing still when shot. She was trying to show the soldier what was inside her bag, but the soldier shot her once, and then shot her again. Three or four other soldiers ran to the scene and also fired. She was shot even when she was down. Family members said soldiers refused to allow Palestinian medics to treat her at the scene. Israeli soldiers then prevented an ambulance from approaching the woman and left her lying on the ground 30 minutes until another ambulance arrived. By then, it was too late. The circumstances of the incident indicate that the soldiers at the checkpoint acted disproportionately. They did not try to subdue Al-Hashlamon and take her into custody without resorting to live fire. The claim that Al-Hashlamon tried to stab soldiers, as repeated by the Israeli media, cannot be reconciled with the fact that there was a metal barrier between her and the soldiers at the time of the shooting. At no point did Al-Hashlamon threaten the soldiers with the supposed knife. Even if she had a knife under her niqab, she posed no threat to soldiers at the time she was shot and could have been subdued without being fatally wounded. But tell that to Israeli soldiers who shoot first, then ask questions later. Ministers passed the stone-throwing measures following three days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has seen months of violence between Palestinians and Israelis. The tension is perfectly understandable. The eastern and Palestinian side of Jerusalem is occupied and annexed by Israel. Peace talks have been frozen since 2014. A Palestinian state seems more distant than ever. While the violence has not approached the levels of past uprisings, there has been a surge in the iconic act of the uprisings — stone-throwing — because guns, machine-guns, tanks, helicopters and warplanes are not at the disposal of the Palestinians. After Al-Hashlamon was killed, about 200 Palestinians used their most commonly known form of resistance: they threw rocks at Israeli soldiers who from now on will be allowed to open fire — and they will know they have a right to do so. The use of live fire to control Palestinians is now sanctioned.
