Maan News Agency: Rights group: Teenager killed Tuesday was disabled

23.8.11

Maan News Agency: Rights group: Teenager killed Tuesday was disabled: BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A young Palestinian shot dead Tuesday in the Gaza Strip suffered from mental disabilities and was in an area that had not been declared as prohibited, a local rights group has charged.



The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said Wednesday that Sa'd Abdul Rahim Mahmoud Al-Majdalwai, 17, from Nusseirat refugee camp, was hit by 10 live bullets mostly to the head.



The victim's father said his son suffered from a mental disability and a speech impairment, the rights group said citing his death as evidence for a "total disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians."



The teenager was left wounded without being offered first aid, the rights group said.



PCHR said the army "could have arrested or used less than lethal force against him" as he did not appear to pose a threat and was not in an area which the army explicitly prohibits Palestinians from entering.



At the time, an Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma'an that "IDF forces opened fire at a suspect approaching the security fence. The forces identified a hit," the official said.



The teenager had approached the border east of the refugee camp of Maghazi in central Gaza, Agence France-Presse quoted Palestinian witnesses as saying at the time.