Israeli snipers kill disabled Palestinian at protest near Gaza border
Israeli soldiers on Friday shot dead a Palestinian protester who had no legs.
Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh, 29, was shot in the head during protests on the border east of Gaza City, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Another man had been reportedly killed in similar circumstances.
Eight Palestinians have now died and scores have been hurt as protests over US president Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital – and his plans to move the country’s embassy there – enter their second week.
Jerusalem is regarded as a capital by Israelis and Palestinians, making it the combustible centre of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Abu Thurayeh was taken to Shifa Hospital, in Gaza.
Unverified reports report that he lost his legs during the 2014 Gaza war with Israel. Others suggest he lost his legs in a Israeli air strike on his home in 2008.
Images online show Thurayeh trying to make a living despite his serious disability by washing cars.
He had taken part in several border skirmishes recently. Images on social media show him with a Palestinian flag.
It is believed that he was killed by a sniper.
“The fact he was killed today by sniper bullets may mean to Palestinians that his murder was a perpetrated act and not an act of military or security necessity,” Fadi Al Qadi, a Middle East and human rights expert based in Jordan, told Newsweek.
Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Kidra said that the two Palestinian protesters in Gaza City were killed from gunshots to the head.
The Israeli military said that about 3,500 Palestinians demonstrated near the Gaza border fence.
A spokesman for the Israel Defence Force said: “During the violent riots IDF soldiers fired selectively towards the main instigators.”
British prime minister Theresa May said she disagreed with Mr Trump’s actions over Jerusalem and described them as unhelpful.
Unverified reports that Thurayeh lost his legs during the 2014 Gaza war with Israel