Killing of Eyad al-Hallaq

On 30 May 2020, Eyad al-Hallaq (Arabic: إياد الحلاق, romanized: ’Iyād al-Ḥalāq), a 32-year-old unarmed autistic Palestinian man, was shot and killed by Israeli Police in East Jerusalem of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hallaq was heading to a school for students with special needs, and passed through the Lions' Gate checkpoint, where Israeli police officers attempted to stop him and shot at least seven times in his direction. Hallaq fled from the area and hid in a garbage shed nearby, where he was then shot dead by an Israeli officer. The officer later claimed that he thought Hallaq was attempting to murder a screaming woman. The woman in question was his school councilor.

On 6 July 2023, an Israeli court acquitted the officer of charges of "reckless homicide" based on his argument that he fired in self-defense and believed Hallaq was attempting an attack. At the court, Hallaq's parents expressed their dismay and shock. His father said the ruling was a "disgrace," and that there is "one justice [system] for Jews and another for Arabs." The court's decision drew Palestinian outrage and focused attention on treatment of Palestinians by Israeli police. The following day, Hallaq's crying mother confronted a group of Israeli demonstrators, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who called her a terrorist.

The minister and other Israeli police officials expressed their support for the officer. Ben Gvir had been campaigning on loosening open-fire rules and shielding security personnel from criminal prosecution. An Israeli state comptroller report found that only 1.2% of complaints against officers in 2021 resulted in indictments.

Friends and family of Halaq and the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Saab Erekat, have drawn parallels with police brutality in the United States and the murder of George Floyd.