An Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead an injured Palestinian was freed from prison on Tuesday, the army said, after spending nine months behind bars.
Elor Azaria was initially sentenced to 18 months in prison for the killing of Abdul Fatah al-Sharif in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in March 2016. He began serving his sentence on August 9.
The army’s chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, later reduced the term by four months. Moreover, Israeli prisoners often have their sentences reduced by one third for good behaviour.
The army had previously said that Azaria, 21, was due to be released from the Tzrifim military prison near Tel Aviv on May 10.
According to Israeli media, he was freed two days early to allow him to attend his brother’s wedding on Wednesday.
The shooting incident was caught on video by B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, and quickly spread online.
It showed al-Sharif, 21, lying wounded on the ground, shot along with another Palestinian after allegedly stabbing and wounding a soldier.
Around 11 minutes after the initial shooting, Azaria, a sergeant and military medic at the time of the incident, walked up to al-Sharif and shot him in the head without apparent provocation.
He said he feared al-Sharif was wearing an explosive belt and could blow himself up, a claim judges rejected.
