HEBRON, West Bank, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A 65-year old Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers during a raid in Hebron to arrest wanted Hamas operatives, officials said.
Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi, Israel's Central Command chief, ordered an investigation into the death of Amr Qawasme, Ynetnews.com reported.
Qawasme was shot by soldiers searching his home for operatives released by the Palestinian Authority, the report said.
The man was asleep when soldiers broke into the home before dawn, his wife, Sobheye, told the Ma'an news agency Friday. She said the soldiers brushed past her and then she heard several shots fired.
"The soldiers entered our house when my mother was praying," the victim's son said. "They put her in my disabled brother's room, entered my father's bedroom and shot him. They left the house after arresting the Hamas man who lives on the first floor of our building. The soldiers must have thought that the activist lives on the second floor, so they immediately opened fire when they entered my father's room without verifying his identity.
The news agency said the soldiers arrested five Hamas operatives who had been detained by Palestinian security forces for their alleged involvement in West Bank shooting attacks in September that killed four Israelis and injured two others.
The operatives were released Thursday on orders from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the report said.
