Arab worker shot dead at Shuafat checkpoint, half a year after being beaten by teenagers in Jerusalem

50-year-old cleaner Khalil al-Rashak, previously beaten by teenagers due to his nationality, was shot dead by MAGAV forces at the Shuafat checkpoint on July 23. The family claims he bled for 15 minutes without help. MAHASH is investigating.

Khalil al-Rashak, a 50-year-old Arab cleaner working for the Jerusalem municipality, was shot dead by MAGAV forces at the Shuafat refugee camp checkpoint on the evening of July 23, 2026. According to the family, he was returning from work, lost his ID, went back for it, and approached the checkpoint on foot. The soldiers shouted, but he did not hear, after which five bullets were fired at him, one hitting an artery. The man bled for about 15 minutes and died. The police claim he was walking in the vehicle lane, did not obey orders to stop, and the soldiers shot him in the legs. An official MAGAV statement mentions a leg injury but not death. MAHASH has launched an investigation. Six months earlier, al-Rashak was beaten by two Jewish teenagers, suffering broken ribs and knocked-out teeth. One of them, Binyamin Yehuda Gutfreund, received 9 months of community service and 3,000 shekels in compensation. The article presents the incident as a likely security force error, highlighting the contrast between the brutality of the attack and the leniency of the teenagers' sentence.