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Palestinian, 19, killed in Kobar, West Bank; accounts differ on who shot him

A 19-year-old Palestinian, Bahaa al-Natsheh, died after being shot in Kobar near Ramallah on Friday 2 October. Palestinian sources blame settlers or troops, and the Israeli military said it was checking.

2 outlets · 0L · 1C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Anadolu Agency
Image: Arab News

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2A 19-year-old Palestinian, named as Bahaa Sami Amin al-Natsheh, died of gunshot wounds on Friday 2 October in Kobar, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian authorities. Right · 1Who fired is contested: Kobar's mayor, Mounir Badwan, told AFP that army bullets hit Natsheh, while the Palestinian health ministry said settlers shot him. Right · 1According to the mayor, the confrontation began when young Palestinians tried to open a gate recently erected by settlers to keep villagers inside Kobar, and settlers attacked them.

Mixed · 2The Palestinian news agency Wafa and the mayor said Israeli forces blocked ambulance crews from reaching the injured, and the Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that Israeli forces refused to let it reach an injured person in Kobar. Mixed · 2The Palestinian Authority body that coordinates with Israel said Natsheh's body is being withheld by the Israeli authorities; Wafa reported another Palestinian was hit in the head by a tear gas canister during the raid. Right · 1AFP said the Israeli military, asked for its version, replied that it was checking.

Right · 1The killing came a day after the Palestinian health ministry said settler gunfire killed 51-year-old Mashhour Yassin in Yasuf, north of Ramallah; the Israeli military said troops opened fire in response to Palestinians throwing rocks that injured an Israeli. Mixed · 2Palestinian figures cited by Anadolu say there were 647 attacks by settlers in the West Bank in September, killing three Palestinians, and about 750,000 settlers live in 194 settlements and about 400 outposts; the UN says settler attacks averaged six a day in the first half of the year. Right · 1AFP reported the violence comes amid international criticism and ahead of an Israeli general election on 27 October, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissing settler violence as the work of a few delinquents and denouncing sanctions on settlement goods imposed by Britain, France and others.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Anadolu relays Palestinian authorities' and Wafa's accounts in brief, with headline attributing the killing to 'Israeli occupiers'.
Emphasis
Palestinian Health Ministry and Wafa statements, withheld body, blocked ambulances, September attack statistics, settler population.
Leaves out or plays down
No Israeli military response, no mention of the mayor's account of the army shooting, the gate, or the election.
Charged language
“Israeli occupiers”
For example
“A Palestinian was killed and others were injured Friday evening by Israeli occupiers in Kobar” — Anadolu Agency

Right1 outlet

Framing
Arab News runs AFP copy placing the death in a pattern of settler violence, noting uncertainty over whether settlers or troops fired.
Emphasis
Mayor's eyewitness-style account, the gate, the previous day's killing, international criticism, Netanyahu's stance and the 27 October election.
Leaves out or plays down
Gives the Israeli military only a 'checking' response; no independent confirmation of the sequence of events.
Charged language
“settler violence”
For example
“Israeli settlers or troops shot dead a young Palestinian on Friday, West Bank authorities said, the second such death in as many days.” — Arab News