'No evidence of criminal activity' in killing of Palestinian father of 12, Israeli court says

Forty seven year old Yaqoub Abu al-Qia’an was shot while driving away from his hometown in the Umm al-Hiran village on January 18, after he could "no longer watch his home being demolished" to pave way for a new settler town, his friends say.

After being shot, the father of 12 lost control of his car, leaving one Israeli policeman dead. Al-Qia’an was reportedly left to bleed for at least 20 minutes before being taken to hospital, and later died of internal haemorrhage.

Israeli forces claimed al-Qia’an was "attempting to carry out a terrorist attack" and accused him of being associated with the Islamic State group.

At the time, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called the incident a "terrorist attack," but later investigations revealed that al-Qia’an accidentally ran over the policeman Erez Levi after he was shot and lost control of his vehicle.

However, following a probe into the shooting of al-Qia’an, the Israeli Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department claimed to have not found any evidence of criminal activity by the Israeli police.

The findings will be transferred to the attorney general and the state’s attorney, but sources say it is very unlikely that the decision will be reversed.