A Palestinian teenager who was shot on Friday during clashes with Israeli security forces near the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, succumbed to his wounds on Saturday morning. Expecting further demonstrations, Israeli police have been deployed heavily throughout the city.

Milad Said Ayyash, 17, was hospitalized in critical condition in East Jerusalem Al-Mukassad hospital shortly after he was shot in the stomach on Friday. The doctors said he had no pulse when he arrived, and had already lost a great deal of blood.

Open gallery view Police officers standing guard outside Beit Yonatan in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. Credit: Gil Cohen Magen

A Palestinian activist told Haaretz that Ayyash was allegedly shot by a security guard near Beit Yonatan in East Jerusalem. Leftist actvists said the guard shot him after a Molotov cocktail was hurled in the direction of the neighborhood which has been the site of growing tension over the last few years.

Activists added that the bullet removed from his wound during surgery came from a gun and not a riffle, which is predominantly used by security guards, as opposed to Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

His funeral will be held in Ras al-Amud in east Jerusalem on Saturday afternoon, after which Palestinian activists plan to march from the Old City in Jerusalem to Sheikh Jarrah.

Open gallery view Milad Said Ayyash. Credit: Courtesy

Tensions are high in East Jerusalem as Palestinians prepare to mourn on Sunday the creation of Israel in 1948, which they call the "Nakba", or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced to leave their homes.

IDF soldiers and Palestinians clashed on Friday throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, days before planned demonstrations to commemorate the Nakba.

Mild clashes between the IDF and Palestinians erupted in Jerusalem, in Silwan, Isawiya and in the Old City. Israel police forces arrested 11 protesters.

Israel security officials in Silwan reportedly fired shots in the air to stop stone-throwing.

Police reported that a 34-year-old masked man was arrested for carrying a Molotov cocktail, and that three Palestinians were lightly wounded by projectile fire from security forces in Silwan.Prayers on the Temple Mount in which 8,000 worshippers were in attendance, took place without a hitch, despite predictions of possible unrest.



