Palestinian shot by IDF while sabotaging security fence dies of wounds
While IDF claims Saleh was trying to cut through fence, family says teenager was returning from wedding and did not provoke soldiers.
By REUTERS, YAAKOV LAPPINA protester places a Palestinian flag at the Israeli barrier fence in the West Bank village of Rafat near Ramallah(photo credit: REUTERS)
A Palestinian shot while sabotaging the West Bank security barrier has died of his injuries, Palestinian medical source said on Tuesday.A group of Palestinians arrived at the barrier near the Palestinian village of Araka, west of Jenin, on Monday evening, and began damaging the structure, an army spokeswoman said.“A military force arrived and initiated a suspect arrest procedure,” the IDF said on Tuesday.Soldiers shouted warnings, and then shot at the legs of suspects, hitting one.“An IDF paramedic provided medical treatment to the wounded Palestinian, before the Red Crescent evacuated him,” the army spokeswoman said.Muhammad Saleh, 18, was hit in a main artery and doctors were unable to save him, said Tarif Ashour, a Palestinian Authority Health Ministry official.One of Saleh’s relatives said the teenager was walking in fields near the barrier after a wedding celebration and had not tried to cross it. “There was no provocation,” said the family member, Munib Hammad, who did not witness the incident but heard accounts from others who were with Saleh.Reuters contributed to this report.
