Border police in Hebron on Wednesday killed a 17-yearold Palestinian who was
seen to pull out a gun and threaten one of the officers at a checkpoint located
near the Cave of the Patriarchs.
Later, a police sapper determined that
the gun was a toy pistol made of metal. Judea and Samaria Police have opened an
investigation.
The teenager was Muhammad al-Salaymeh, according to Abir
Kopty of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee.
Kopty added that
Salaymeh had apparently celebrated his birthday in school that
morning.
Border police said that “a Palestinian youth who arrived at a
Border Police post next to the Tomb of the Patriarchs raised the suspicion of
the officers. They asked him for his identification card and when they
approached him to check his card he pulled out a gun and pointed it at the head
of one of the soldiers.”
A female Border Police officer at the checkpoint
saw what took place, fired at the youngster and critically wounded him. He was
taken to a nearby hospital where he died.
A riot broke out at the
hospital and was dispersed by security forces, the police added. While Israeli
media initially described Salaymeh as a terrorist, Palestinians on Twitter
claimed him as an innocent “martyr” whom the Border Police had killed for no
reason. Palestinian tweeters sent out a photograph of the smiling Salaymeh
sitting by a birthday cake.
Kopty claimed that Border Police personnel
held Salaymeh’s body for a “prolonged” period before releasing it to the hospital.
She added that a Border Police officer pushed away Palestinian reporters and
photographers from the scene, injuring some of them.
The IDF added only
that disturbances had broken out in Hebron following the
shooting.
Salaymeh's funeral will be held in Hebron on Thursday after the
noon Muslim prayers