Palestinian student shot in head with rubber bullet by Israeli troops dies
An activist waves the Palestinian flag at a protest in the West Bank village of Bilin on February 17, 2012, during a weekly demonstration against Israel’s controversial separation barrier and in support of prisoner Khader Adnan, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad jailed in Israel who is due to go free on Tuesday.
A 22-year-old Palestinian protester has died in a Tel Aviv hospital, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Muhammed Asfour was a fourth-year student at the sports school in Abu Dis University and a local soccer star, the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported. He grew up in the village of Aboud.
Before his death, he had been protesting in his home village in support of the hunger striking Palestinians kept in detention at Israeli prisons. The protest was also sparked by leaked news that a Palestinian man died in Israeli custody after an interrogation, Al Jazeera reported.
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Some of the protesters threw stones, BBC News reported, and then Israeli Defense Forces fired back with rubber bullets, one of which hit Asfour in the head. A witness recalls the exact moment that Asfour was hit.
“Sixty meters away stood six soldiers. When we approached them to within 40 meters, they fired tear gas grenades at us. One of the soldiers, who looked like a sharpshooter, fired a rubber bullet that hit Asfour in the head. We noticed that he didn’t move or run away when we did," the witness said, Haaretz reported.
Asfour's funeral will be held on Friday. Israel's military said it is "investigating an alleged incident that took place at a violent and illegal riot," the BBC says.