Ramallah – The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli authorities in the "strongest terms" for closing the investigation into the killing of 80-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Asaad, from the village of Jaljalia, north of Ramallah. 

The Israeli military's attorney's office said the soldier, who bound and gagged Asaad after detaining him at a flying checkpoint in January 2022, would face disciplinary action rather than any criminal charges, on the grounds that there was no direct link between the violent conduct of the soldier and Asaad's death. 

The ministry in Ramallah said that the investigation was part of "an official Israeli policy...to mislead countries, the international community and global public opinion," even though such the perpetrators are almost always let off. 

Such probes, it added, "provide escape hatches for political and military officials as well, who give instructions to facilitate the killing of Palestinians."

The ministry called on the U.S. to investigate the crime, given that the elderly man is an American citizen, and pledged to cooperate with any American investigations into the incident.