Teen wounded in Ni'lin protest dies

18-year-old reportedly hit by rubber-coated bullet fired by IDF troops during anti-fence demo last week.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOSTLEO GIOSUÈCOM STAFF
security fence protest 248 (photo credit: AP)
security fence protest 248
(photo credit: AP)
An 18-year-old Palestinian demonstrator hurt during an anti-security fence protest in the Palestinian village of Ni'lin last week died of his wounds on Monday. The teen, who succumbed to his wounds in a Ramallah hospital, was identified as Yousef Ahmed Younis Amera. The International Solidarity Movement claimed Amera was hit in the head by a rubber-coated bullet fired by IDF troops. The incident occurred last Tuesday 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 continued for several hours, during which security forces used sound bombs, rubber bullets and tear gas, according to the International Solidarity Movement. A volunteer from the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that about eight other Palestinians were injured. Amera's cousin Hamud told The Jerusalem Post that the 18-year-old 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. Security forces said they were looking into the incident. He added that demonstrators should be aware that anyone "who enters into the middle of a disturbance zone can be injured." Amera's shooting came a day after Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa, 11, was shot and killed, allegedly by a border policeman during a demonstration in the same village, which is located east of Modi'in Illit. A border policeman has since been arrested in connection with the killing.