JERUSALEM – Israeli police shot dead an unarmed autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday after saying they suspected he was carrying a weapon.
The shooting drew broad condemnations and revived complaints alleging excessive force by Israeli security forces. On social media, some compared the shooting to police violence in the U.S.
Relatives identified the deceased man as Iyad Halak, 32. They said he suffered from autism and was heading to the school for students with special needs where he studied each day when he was shot. “They killed him in cold blood,” Halak's mother, Rana, told Israel's Channel 12 TV.