Palestinian government asks UN to investigate 'extrajudicial killing' of wounded man by Israeli soldier

'There was no apparent threat from the Palestinian that was incapacitated'

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of Palestine. His government have called for a UN investigation into Israeli over a recent shooting (Reuters)

The Palestinian government has asked the UN to investigate the deadly shooting of a wounded Palestinian as he lay on the ground by an Israeli soldier.

A request to launch a UN investigation into alleged extrajudicial killings has been lodged by Palestinian officials after the shooting was captured on video.

The Israeli military has detained the soldier while it investigates the incident.

Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian official, said that past Israeli investigations have failed to "serve justice" and that Israel has always been "rewarded with impunity."

The shooting came amid a six-month wave of Palestinian attacks that have killed 28 Israelis and two Americans.

Over the same time, at least 188 Palestinians have died by Israeli fire, yet Israel says most of those shot were attackers or died in clashes with Israeli forces.

The soldier seconds before appearing to fire the shot (YouTube/Btselem)

The Palestinians say the killings amount to extrajudicial slayings, while the shooting has divided public opinion within Israel.

Lt Col Peter Lerner, the lead Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, said a preliminary investigation found the soldier arrived on the scene some six minutes after the initial incident, and that the second shooting occurred several minutes after that.

"There was no apparent threat from the Palestinian that was incapacitated," he said.

Other Israelis say the soldier was acting in self-defence.

A poll of 522 people found that 57 percent of Israeli Jews opposed arresting and investigating the soldier, according to Midgam Research and Consulting for Israeli Channel 2 TV News.

Several nationalistic lawmakers, including Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home party, accused detractors of abandoning the soldier before he was given a fair hearing.

But Nahum Barnea, a veteran journalist with the Yediot Ahronot daily, said that "a new generation of vigilantes has risen up in our midst, Israelis seeking revenge.

"They regard cold-blooded murder as an act of heroism, and regard upholding the army's rules as defeatism," he wrote.

Associated Press