Settlers delay ambulance after Palestinian shot at outpost

Settlers at an illegal West Bank outpost on Tuesday prevented an ambulance from reaching a Palestinian teenager shot by the outpost's security officer, Israel Defense Forces sources said Wednesday.

Salman Yussuf Safadi, an 18-year-old from the nearby village of Orif, died before the ambulance arrived.

The residents of the outpost, near the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, had placed spikes in the road to the outpost, which punctured one of the ambulance's tires. The settlers also clashed with IDF troops at the scene.

The settler who shot Safadi initially claimed that the latter had tried to enter his house, in outpost 725. He later said that the Palestinian was not in his home when he shot him.

Safadi was apparently seriously wounded, but tried to flee. His body was found some 50 meters from the house. Military sources say the settler had fired a "number of bullets."

Settlers initially claimed that the man was actually caught in the house.

The military believes that there are two possible reasons Safadi tried to enter the house: either he was collecting intelligence information on the outpost for use in a future attack, or he was trying to steal from the house.

There were reports that he was picking olives nearby and had wandered into the outpost. The village's olive groves, however, are not in proximity to the outpost.

Palestinians from Orif said that Safadi had been herding his sheep near the outpost and went to look for some sheep that ran away. They said Safadi was unarmed and was not a member of any terror group.

Police officers were initially dispatched to the area to investigate the incident, but were told to leave by the military, who wished to investigate the incident instead.