Ahmed Erekat was shot dead by Israeli forces at the West Bank checkpoint this Tuesday on his way to pick up his sister from a salon ahead of her wedding that night. 

The Israeli border police said they shot and killed Ahmed Erekat who they say attempted to run over a female officer at a checkpoint in Abu Dis, a Palestinian village east of Jerusalem.

The Israeli police say the officer was “injured lightly”. 

Palestinian officials reject this account of Ahmed’s death and allegations by the Israeli police that Ahmed Erekat had tried to run over an Israeli officer.

Palestinians and human rights groups have accused Israeli security forces of using excessive force, and in this case, opening fire on a car that merely lost control.

Senior Palestinian Official Hanan Ashrawi says Israel has a “kill first, justify later” policy that they need to be “held accountable for”.

Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney based in the US, is Ahmed’s older cousin. She said in a tweet that the police left Ahmed to bleed for 1.5 hours. 

Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that the director of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Bethlehem confirmed that an Israeli soldier prevented Palestinian medical personnel from approaching Erekat and he was left to bleed.

Erekat’s uncle, Saeb Erekat, said that the police allegation of an attempted car ramming was “impossible”, saying that Ahmed was engaged and due to get married himself very soon.

Noura Erakat said Ahmed was “pressed for time to pick up his sisters, the flowers, and all these other things from Bethlehem, we are 100 percent sure he would never do this. Why would he do this on his sister’s wedding day?”

READ MORE: Police Kill 62-Year-Old Ejaz Choudry After Undergoing Schizophrenia Episode In His Apartment