Israeli soldier Elor Azaria convicted over Hebron death

An Israeli soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday after a trial that deeply divided the country.

The soldier, Elor Azaria, had been on trial in a military court since May, with right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly condemning his actions.

Azaria, now 20, shot Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, in the head while he was apparently incapacitated in Hebron, in the West Bank. In the incident on 24 March, Sharif and another 21-year-old Palestinian, Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi, stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier before troops opened fire on them, wounding Sharif and killing Qasrawi.

Footage of the incident shows Sharif alive. A soldier, identified as Azaria, is then seen cocking his rifle and fatally shooting him from several metres away.

A separate video of the incident appeared to show the knife mentioned by Azaria in his police statement at least 1m away from Sharif.

Afterwards, Azaria told Israeli military police that Sharif's hand was within reach of the knife he used in the stabbings, and that he feared the Palestinian man might be wearing an explosive vest. However, army investigators said that before he opened fire, Azaria had told a comrade that the wounded man "deserved to die" for stabbing his friend.

In their indictment, prosecutors said Azaria "violated the rules of engagement without operational justification as the terrorist was lying on the ground wounded and represented no immediate threat for the accused or others who were present".

During the trial, Azaria said he thought Sharif might have an explosive vest, but prosecutors said his motive was revenge. But in delivering the verdict on Wednesday, the panel of three military judges rejected Azaria's defence that he shot Sharif because he continued to pose a threat.

According to AFP news agency, Judge Colonel Maya Heller spent more than two and a half hours reading out the decision, sharply criticising the arguments of Azaria's lawyers. On behalf of the three-judge panel, Heller said there was no reason for Azaria to open fire since the Palestinian was posing no threat, calling Azaria's testimony "evolving and evasive."

The judges noted that Azaria's company and battalion commanders had testified that he did not mention the same concerns when they questioned him immediately after the shooting incident.

The judges also said there was no dispute regarding the veracity of the statements made by another soldier, who testified to military investigators that Azaria had told him during the incident: "They stabbed my friend and tried to kill him - he deserves to die."

Sentencing is expected at a later date, with Azaria facing up to 20 years in prison.

The shooting came against the backdrop of a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October 2015.

Israeli security forces have been accused of excessive force in certain other cases as well, though authorities say officers act appropriately to protect themselves and civilians.