

Palestinians mourn Samir Awad, 16, killed after the Israeli Defense Forces shot him three times. (Photo: Wattan News)

A Palestinian teenager was shot repeatedly and killed by the Israeli military this morning near the West Bank village of Budrus. The details are still a little fuzzy; some new outlets are reporting Awad was shot four times, others three. There is also a discrepancy over his age as either 16 or 17. The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) said in a press release that Awad was shot while walking near clashes between Palestinians and the military.

From the PSCC:

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Army Shoots Dead 16 Year Old Palestinian in Budrus Sameer Awwad (16) was shot today with 3 live bullets at the West Bank village of Budrus, west of Ramallah. Awwad is the fourth to be killed near the Barrier in five days. This morning, while children were clearing out of their classes in the village of Budrus, Israeli soldiers who convened by the Barrier near the school shot and killed 16 year-old Sameer Awwad. According to eyewitnesses, Sameer was walking away from light clashes that had erupted by the Barrier when he was shot from the back with three bullets, from a distance of about 100 meters. One bullet hit his leg, another at the back of his neck and exited near his eyebrow, and the third entered his rib cage and exited from his chest.

Yet the Jewish Press reported the IDF Spokesperson said there were no clashes and that soldiers killed the youth while he was attempting to enter Israel outside of a military crossing:

Initial reports incorrectly stated that there was a physical confrontation between Palestinians and the IDF soldiers in the village of Burdos, near the security fence. The IDF spokesman finally released a statement that an IDF unit protecting the security fence, saw an attempt to breach the security fence near Burdos, and the unit attempted to stop the infiltrator, and shot him.

Shortly after shots were fired Wattan News was on site and filmed an emergency medical team trying to resuscitate Awad in a hospital in Ramallah, reporting he was shot three times: in the head, chest and leg. Warning the footage is extremely graphic.

The Jerusalem Post also picked up the story, indicating just a few days ago another Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces while crossing the 1967 border in order to go to work:

The IDF opened fire on a Palestinian youth who it said attempted to cross into Israel from the West Bank on Tuesday morning. The youth later died at a Ramallah hospital. The IDF Spokesman’s Office said the man had tried to breach the security fence at Budrus, which is northwest of Ramallah, adding that the man ignored orders from soldiers to stop and warning shots fired in the air. Palestinian sources reported that 16-year-old Samir Awad of Budrus was killed after being shot four times by IDF troops. On Saturday, IDF troops opened fire at and killed a Palestinian man the army said was attempting to enter Israel from the southern West Bank in the south Hebron hills.



Awad’s funeral will take place this afternoon in Budrus at 3 p.m. Jerusalem time.

