Israel punishes officers in death of Palestinian-American

By JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it will reprimand a senior officer and remove two others from leadership roles over the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian with U.S. citizenship. Omar Assad was dragged from a car, bound and blindfolded after being stopped at a checkpoint. The military said the soldiers believed he was asleep when they cut his zip-ties and left him face-down in an abandoned building where he had been detained with three other Palestinians. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. The State Department had expressed concern over his death and called for an investigation. Israel’s army chief of staff and defense minister criticized the soldiers’ conduct.