Israel Accuses Palestinian Leader Abbas Of Inciting Terrorism

By Eyder Peralta / NPR

Published October 15, 2015 at 3:07 AM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting terrorism with statements that Israeli police killed a 13-year-old boy in Jerusalem.

In his speech, Abbas was referring to a graphic video posted on the Web that shows an injured Palestinian boy being taunted by a man who shouted, "Die, son of a whore."

Reporting from Jerusalem, Daniel Estrin tells our Newscast unit that Abbas held up a printed screen-shot of the video during his speech on Wednesday night. Daniel filed this report:

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"Abbas said in a televised speech that Israel 'executed' 13-year-old Ahmad Manasra 'in cold blood.' "The teen was injured in the incident but is still alive. Israeli police say Manasra and his 15-year-old cousin had attacked a 13-year-old Israeli who was stabbed and badly wounded. "Manasra's cousin was killed by Israeli police. Abbas also accused Israel of attacking holy places. Netanyahu's office called Abbas' comments 'incitement and lies,' and said Abbas makes 'cynical use of religion and thus brings about terrorism.'"

As The New York Times reports, after the video first surfaced on the Web, a hospital released a photograph of the boy doing fine in a hospital bed. Israeli police then released surveillance footage that appears to show Manasra and his cousin carrying knives and chasing another Jewish man down the street.

According to police, Manasra's cousin was killed by police after he lunged at them with a knife. Police say Manasra was hit by a car as he was trying to escape.

According to the Times, the boy's father told a local news station that his son was not involved in the stabbing. What's clear, reports the Times, is that the boy is not dead; what's unclear is why "Abbas said that [Manasra] had died, given that the hospital clarified the record a day earlier."

Of course all of this is taking place at a time when tensions in the region have escalated into violence. As we reported, Israel deployed troops to cities in an effort to quell the violence.