An Israeli court has dropped charges against two Israeli security guards who shot and killed two Palestinian siblings at a checkpoint in April, ruling that there was not sufficient evidence that they had acted improperly.

A private security contractor shot and killed Maram Salih Hassan Abu Ismail, 23, and her 16-year-old brother, Ibrahim Salih Hassan Taha, on April 27 at the Qalandiya checkpoint between the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, after Israeli forces claimed Abu Ismail, who was five months pregnant, threw a knife in the direction of Israeli forces while she was some 20 meters away from them.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the prosecutors in the case said that Abu Ismail threw a knife at Israeli forces but missed, while her brother tried to pull her away. The prosecution further claimed that Taha had one hand in his pocket while approaching the checkpoint, arousing “reasonable suspicion” that he was attempting to commit an attack.

UPDATE: Palestinian woman shot dead identified as 24-year-old Maram Salih Hassan Abu Ismail https://t.co/QY37he3fbQ pic.twitter.com/G4vru8JTDB

— Ma'an News Agency (@MaanNewsAgency) April 27, 2016

Israeli forces also claim to have found a knife on Taha’s body after he was killed, although at no point prior to being shot did he attempt to use it.

However, witnesses said at the time that the two siblings posed no threat when they were killed, as they mistakenly entered the wrong part of the checkpoint and did not understand the Israeli soldiers who spoke to them in Hebrew.

One witness further said that Israeli forces planted knifes on the scene.

@MaxBlumenthal '23-year-old Maram Salih Hassan Abu Ismail, five months pregnant, and her 16-year-old brother Ibrahim' @Omar_Gaza

— Harrie Baken (@harriebaken) May 2, 2016

Israeli news outlet Ynet quoted the Israeli state’s attorney’s office as saying that the guards’ actions represented a “clear-cut” case of “self-defense,” while the Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli Ministry of Justice exonerated one of the guards on the grounds that the charges against them were “baseless,” and ruled that there was a lack of evidence to contradict the other guard’s claim that he had felt threatened.

Meanwhile, the Times of Israel reported that Israeli police has refused to release security camera footage of the case, despite demands by the Abu Ismail family and several Israeli media outlets.

(MA’AN, PC)