Border Police probes 2nd serious Ni'lin shooting

18-year-old Palestinian declared brain dead after reportedly being hit by a rubber-coated bullet.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
tear gas niilin 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
tear gas niilin 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
The Border Police on Wednesday night were investigating allegations that a second Palestinian in two days had been shot in the head by one of its officers in Ni'lin, east of Modi'in Illit. Yousef Ahmed Younis Amera, 18, was declared brain dead in a Ramallah hospital on Wednesday night, according to the International Solidarity Movement and the young man's cousin Hamud. Amera's shooting came a day after Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa, 11, was shot and killed, allegedly by a border police man operating in Ni'lin. According to Roger Smith of the International Solidarity Movement the shooting happened around 7:30 p.m., in the aftermath of Mousa's funeral on Wednesday afternoon, when a group of young men from Ni'lin erected five barricades at the entrance to the village. A bulldozer brought in by the Border Police to clear away the barricades was met by a hail of stones. Clashes between the two groups continued for several hours, during which security forces used sound bombs, rubber bullets and tear gas, according to Smith. Amira was shot during these clashes by a rubber-coated bulled, said Smith, who was not present but cited eyewitness accounts. A volunteer from B'Tselem said that about eight other Palestinians were injured. Hamud told The Jerusalem Post that his cousin Yousef was not involved in the violence but had been standing to the side watching what was going on when he was hit by a bullet. "He was simply standing there and then he fell to the ground. I saw him," Hamud said. According to the IDF the evening riot was particularly violent and three border policemen were wounded by the rocks. The security personnel "were forced to use riot dispersal [techniques] against" the villager, the army said, adding they, too, had heard that a Palestinian was seriously wounded. "The IDF and security forces are looking into this issue now," a Border Police spokesman said. He added that demonstrators should be aware that anyone "who enters into the middle of a disturbance zone can be injured." On Thursday, the Border Police is expected to reinforce its forces in the area, including undercover agents, in response to the growing number of clashes. Security forces and Palestinians have been fighting during demonstrations against construction of the security barrier near Ni'lin.