Key takeaways:
- Bilal Saleh was shot and killed by an Israeli settler while collecting olives from his ancestral grove.
- The family has set up a memorial for Saleh in their living room, with artifacts from his life.
- The tragedy is part of a larger conflict between Palestinians and Israelis over the West Bank, and the family of Bilal Saleh hopes that their story will bring attention to the ongoing conflict.
On Wednesday, the family of Bilal Saleh, a Palestinian man shot and killed by an Israeli settler in the West Bank, spoke to NBC News about the tragedy. Saleh was shot on October 28 while collecting olives from his ancestral grove, which is surrounded by Israeli settlements.
Footage obtained by CBS News shows four Israeli settlers wearing white approaching Saleh’s land, one with a weapon slung across his shoulder. A shot rings out, and moments later relatives find Saleh lying dead on the ground.
The family has since set up a memorial for Saleh in their living room, which is dotted with artifacts from his life: a well-used laptop, three copies of the Quran and the Palestinian flag he was carrying when he was shot. In one corner, his brother’s clothes are laid out into a shrine, still caked in blood from his fatal shooting.
Saleh’s widow, Ikhlas, spoke to CBS News this week at the family’s home. She expressed her grief and shock over the tragedy, saying that the next time she saw her husband, he had been shot through the head.
The family’s tragedy is part of a larger conflict between Palestinians and Israelis over the West Bank, which Palestinians claim for their own independent state. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the area to be illegal. The family of Bilal Saleh hopes that their story will bring attention to the ongoing conflict and the violence that has taken the life of their loved one.
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