Israeli Guards Escape Charges in 'Attack' Shooting

Israeli prosecutors decided Wednesday to close the files of two guards who shot dead Palestinian sibling "attackers" at a crossing between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

The justice ministry said in a statement the guards had acted in self-defense on April 27, as the sister was carrying a knife and had been intending to attack them at Qalandia north of Jerusalem.

The first of the two guards, who both worked for a private security firm, was judged to have a "clear" case of self-defense, with the sister allegedly pulling a knife.

Prosecutors ruled there was a lack of evidence against the second guard, who fired several shots at the two Palestinians.

The names of the two guards were withheld.

Palestinian witnesses gave AFP a different version of events at the time of the shooting.

They said Maram Abu Ismail, 23, married with two children, and her brother Ibrahim Saleh Taha, 16, had panicked after going the wrong way at the checkpoint.

The siblings were from Beit Surik, near Ramallah and Qalandia.

Violence since October 2015 has killed 235 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.