An LGBTQ flag. (Credit: AFP/File Photo)
An Israeli rights group said Friday it believed a gay Palestinian beheaded in the occupied West Bank this week was killed for his sexuality, as Palestinian security sources disputed the claim.
The body of Ahmed Abu Murkhiyeh, 25, was found Wednesday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to Palestinian police.
His brutal death was captured in a video that circulated on social media. Palestinian security sources have confirmed the video's authenticity.
Abu Murkhiyeh's relatives said he was killed "while on a visit to his family in Hebron."
But Rita Petrenko, director of Israeli gay rights charity Al-Bait al-Mokhtalef, said Abu Murkhiyeh was in Tel Aviv and in contact with staff at the organization just hours before he was killed, and had made no mention of going to Hebron.
Petrenko, who described herself as a friend of Abu Murkhiyeh, said he approached the organization in April last year after fleeing the West Bank, where she said he feared persecution for his sexuality.
"After he fled, he didn't contact [his family]," Petrenko said, questioning how he had ended up in Hebron on the day of his death. "I believe that he was killed because of his sexual orientation."
Homosexuality is not illegal in the West Bank but remains taboo in Palestinian society. Israel has given a small number of permits to LGBTQ people who fear persecution in the Palestinian territories, rights groups say.
Abu Murkhiyeh had been living in community shelters in Israel and preparing an asylum application for Canada, Petrenko said, adding that she had helped him obtain legal status in Israel.
Rami Fahel, head of Haifa-based Arab LGBTQ group Alwan, told AFP he also met Abu Murkhiyeh on several occasions since 2019, an LGBTQ event in Tel Aviv.
Abu Murkhiyeh's family said in a statement that he had instead been living in neighboring Jordan.
Palestinian police said Thursday in a statement that the killing represented a "new kind of crime" in the West Bank but did not detail a motive.
Police have disputed Abu Murkhiyeh was gay, and multiple Palestinian security sources instead told AFP the murder was related to the drug trade. A family member has been arrested, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to comment on an ongoing investigation.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs in the occupied West Bank, did not respond to requests for comment on whether it had granted Abu Murkhiyeh an Israeli residency permit.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War, while the Palestinian Authority has limited rule in the territory.
In 2019, Palestinian officials sought to ban the Al-Qaws Foundation, an LGBTQ association, prompting outrage from rights groups.
Reporting contributed by Gareth Browne.