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.