West Bank:14 Year Old Critically Injured

Border Police Critically Injures 14 Year Old In Nabi Saleh Demonstration

The 14 year old boy was critically injured during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh against creeping land grab by the adjacent Jewish-only settlement of Halamish.

Ehab Fadel Barghouthi (14) was shot with a rubber-coated bullet that struck him in the forehead above his right eye and entered his skull. He was shot by Border Police officers who took over the rooftop of a house in the outskirts of the village and were in no immediate danger.

According to eye witnesses, the boy was standing twenty meters away from the house when he was shot, after which he immediately collapsed. He was evacuated to the Salfeet hospital unconscious, and from there transferred to the Ramallah hospital. Numerous eyewitnesses confirm stone-throwing did take place at the time of the shooting, but all affirm Barghouthi did not partake in it.

He remains unconscious and in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the Ramallah hospital.

The shooting took place in the aftermath of a 150 people strong demonstration marking international Women's Day and protesting ongoing land grab.

The demonstration was attacked by the Army with tear-gas and rubber-coated bullets while still inside the village and from great distance for no apparent reason. Nine other people were injured, including two journalists and an eighteen year old woman who was hit in the neck with an aluminum-made tear-gas projectile.

The residents of Nabi Saleh have been holding regular demonstrations against the creeping confiscation of their lands by the adjacent Jewish-only settlement of Halamish. Protest was sparked after settlers, abated by the Army, forcefully took over a natural spring belonging to the village.

The village is home to some 500 people. Since demonstrations in the village began, nine of its residents, roughly two percent of the Nabi Saleh's population, have been arrested on protest-related suspicions and dozens were injured.

In recent months Israel is waging a politically motivated campaign of repression against the Palestinian popular struggle that includes a policy of negligent use of arms, cover up of criminal misconduct and legal persecution.

ENDS

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