[Beitunia, RAMALLAH] Today, at 13h30, the Israeli army shot in the
head 17 year old Hussein Mahmoud Hussein Awad from Beitunia, during
an anti-wall protest in Beitunia, west of Ramallah. The boy died an
hour later at the hospital due to severe brain damages caused by the
live bullet.

After the noon prayer, the residents from Beitunia went to the
worksite to protest the destruction of their land by the Israeli
army due to the construction of the Apartheid Wall in this region. 7
military jeeps were visible on the worksite and the soldiers
immediately fired tear gas directly at the crowd of demonstrators.
In the first half hour, the soldiers fired attempted to smoke out
the press of the area, forcing some of the journalists to leave.

The army opened fire with live ammunition, wounding critically
Hussein Awad. Four ISM activists eye witnessed the shooting and
reported that the boy was hit in the temple by the live bullet. The
boy was then taken to Sheikh Zayed hospital in Ramallah where
medical sources said that he will not to recover from his injuries.
He died soon after in the hospital.

There were rock throwing during the protest but the Israeli soldiers
have never been under threat. Any form of protest against the
construction of the Apartheid Wall has been consistently repressed
with extreme violence by the Israeli army. On February 24, 2004, the
army shot dead 3 Palestinian men in Beit Surik during a
demonstration against the wall.

For more information, please contact:
Atle (ISM activist): +972.66.485.243
Jeff (ISM activist): +972.067.897.957
Ghaleb (Popular Committee against the Wall): +972.59.845.366
Sheikh Zayed Hospital: +972.2.298.80.88
ISM Media Office: +972.2.277.46.02

END