The 5 most controversial killings of Palestinians by Israelis in the past 5 weeks

Fadi Alloun, a 19-year-old from Jerusalem, was fatally shot on Oct. 4 by Israeli police, who claim Alloun had stabbed someone earlier that night and refused to drop his knife when confronted by police. Yet videos of the shooting appear to show an unarmed Alloun backing away from cops when he was shot, meaning he posed little threat.

Alloun’s family expressed doubt that the teen would commit a targeted attack, saying instead that he was on his way to work at a bakery when he was accosted by a racist Israeli mob intent on getting revenge for recent killings of Jews by Palestinians in Jerusalem. The video of Alloun’s shooting shows police being egged on by a Jewish mob.

Hadeel al-Hashlamun, an 18-year-old Palestinian student, was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in Hebron on Sept. 22 after she allegedly threatened soldiers with a knife. Yet eyewitnesses and photos from the incident appear to contradict the claim that Hashlamun was holding any type of weapon.

Instead, witnesses and activists say that Hashlamun became nervous when soldiers asked to look under her niqab, and after she failed to comply with soldiers’ orders, the soldiers -- apparently believing that she was planning an attack -- shot her in the legs and abdomen, leading to her death. The killing led to riots in Hebron the following day.

Fadel al-Kawasmeh, an 18-year-old Palestinian resident of Hebron, was shot dead by a Jewish settler on the morning of Oct. 17 after Kawasmeh allegedly tried to stab the settler. But Kawasmeh had passed through a metal detector immediately before the alleged stabbing, leading many to question if he actually had a knife.

Additionally, a video from the immediate aftermath of the incident appears to show soldiers placing an object on Kawasmeh’s body, which some have suggested was a knife planted to justify his killing.

Mustafa Adel al-Khatib, a high school student from the Sur Baher neighborhood of Jerusalem, was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers on Oct. 12 near the Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. The IDF said Khatib was “neutralized” after he pulled a knife during an inspection and attempted to stab a soldier who was wearing a metal breastplate.

However, eyewitnesses to the shooting said that al-Khatib, 18, was driving his car down a narrow alley in the Old City when soldiers, fearing he might be carrying out an attack, shot him to death. The witnesses told Al Jazeera that al-Khatib never even got out of his car.

Muataz Ahmed Awisat, a 16-year-old from Jerusalem’s Jabal Mukabber neighborhood, was shot to death by Israeli Border Police officers on Oct. 17 in East Talpiot, Jerusalem. Police claimed Awisat pulled a large knife while being questioned and tried to stab one of the officers.

Awisat’s family members later told reporters that the teen was small and weak and could not have posed a serious threat to a group of heavily-armed Israeli policemen. They questioned whether lethal force was necessary to subdue the 16-year-old, pointing out that none of the officers sustained any injuries during the attack.